Colossus II : Evolution
by Sammy23.4
Summary: Everything is impossible...until someone actually does it.
1. Shakespeare's Tragedy

Everything except OC's, original locations and plot belongs to the fabulous J.K. Rowling. This series is inspired by hundreds of different sources. There are a few shout outs (quotes, scenes, names .etc) to those sources throughout. I'm sure you'll spot them.

The series is complete up to about 10 chapters into Colossus IV. I'm doing my best to get the stories up quickly but I;m very busy with work and an original novel at the mo so It might take a while.

Hope you enjoy.

1. ======================= SHAKESPEARE'S TRAGEDY ==========================

============ SAN DIEGO - CALIFORNIA - USA - DECEMBER 3RD - 2021 A.D. ============

'Between the light and the darkness, good and evil, life and death, Heaven and Hell, there is a place where everything sits with a perfect balance of both sides. An invisible line. In this place, all it takes is a tiny nudge to fall into one side or the other…some people call it the World we live in. I call it the Soul that lives within us.'

It was him…

He knew it the moment the lock popped out of the door.

The Cylinder flew half away across the room and skidded to a halt on the floor.

Sean Daggra stood but quickly froze on the spot like a startled animal. His wand and his gun were in the bedroom. There was no chance he'd be able to get to them before the door opened.

Albus walked in quickly. He knew exactly where Sean was. He had smelt him the second he stepped up to the front door.

He was wearing a long black trench coat, heavy boots and a Kevlar body armoured vest. (Never can be too careful) He had cut his hair again,́ but clearly hadn't shaved in a few days.

In his hand was a Beretta Xtrema2 Synthetic K-OFF pump shotgun with custom silencer. A large, beer can size cylinder attached to the muzzle that made the heavy duty bang sound like a car door slamming. It also had a custom made extended clip attached to the loading port which brought it's maximum capacity up to 20 shells of double odd buck shot. (Perfect for close range.)

Albus eyeballed Sean for a second before smelling the air and listening for the sound of anyone else in the area.

Nothing but a dog barking 2 blocks away.

He looked at Sean.

"Hi." Al said. With a quick flick of his free hand the door slammed shut.

"You remember me? We met a few weeks ago? You shot me." Albus said conversationally.

"Yeah, I remember." Sean was doing his absolute best no to seem afraid. But around Albus, that was one hell of a difficult task.

"You remember that we met or you remember shooting me?"

"Both." Sean said trying to suppress the gulp in his throat. He couldn't help but look at the weapon. One single shot from that thing, at this range, would blast him apart like a ripe watermelon being hit by the club fist of a giant.

He was sweating now, only under the arms but it was there. Even though it didn't show Albus could smell it.

Fear. He liked it.

"You know why I'm here?" Albus asked.

Sean nodded. "You're here to kill me." His voice remained steady even though he was visibly shaking.

Albus was calm as a rock. A tiny smile curled at the side of his mouth the moment Sean said the word 'Kill'.

"Yes, I am…" Albus said before taking a seat opposite Sean. The Shotgun laid ideally across his legs. "I'm actually here to kill you and your brother…but he's not here is he?" Albus knew the answer to the question.

"No."

"Well…never mind." Albus studied the house for a second. It was a bullshit two floor place that looked like every other house on the block. Only thing different was the people that live inside them. Where Sean had been sitting was a half eaten sandwich and a half empty beer bottle. Next to them, sat a small black Mobile Phone.

"Do you know why I'm doing this?" He asked absently.

Sean nodded. "Because we hurt your friend…"

"That's right…you hurt…No, scratch that, you very nearly kill my friend."

"It's was an accident. We were there for…you." Sean said quietly.

"I know…" Albus sniffed the air again, making sure they were still alone. "Do you think it's fair? What I'm doing…I mean, in the simple way of thinking. You tried to kill me and my friends, I'm going to do the same to you, but I'm not going to fail…You think that's fair?"

Sean was too scared to answer. Little beads of sweat had begun rolling of his forehead.

"It's the way they dished out justice in the old days. You murder someone you get hanged, shot, whatever. But now…" Albus sighed. Just thinking about it got him annoyed. "Someone once said to me, that you only get what you deserve, if you take it or it's forced on you. He said that the people in power didn't have the stomach for real justice. Too many do-gooders."

Albus lazily held out his hand and suddenly the half empty beer bottle shot across the room and into his grip. He took a swig and placed the bottle next to him. Sean looked uncomfortable at his display of power, but not shocked.

"It's odd…He was crazy but he wasn't wrong. His mistake came from going after the wrong people. Blaming everyone instead of the people responsible…I'm not going to make that mistake. But he was right. The ministry, the ones in power, will always do what's right. Unless it makes them look bad. I tell ya, that place, it may look a lot cleaner but it'll always be dirty and naïve. I mean, I'm proof of that. I used the Killing Curse in my third year! The number, one except no substitutes, go straight to Azkaban, do pass GO, do not collect 200 Galleons, unforgivable! And what did they do? Nothing!" He grabbed the beer and took another swig.

"It's about the only spell I ever managed to carry off without having to practice sixty odd times before." Albus laughed. "I used the Killing curse. I killed a guy. All at the tender age of 14 and they covered it up. So you can guess what they did when I told them about you guys…they did the complete opposite of what I wanted them to do. They tried to pin it on someone very special to me. They said you guys didn't exist. Which, now that I think about it, is actually kind of a bonus for me, because you can't be charge with murder for killing someone that never existed. Can you?" He chuckled.

"I do exist…just…just not on record." Sean stammered.

"Yeah, well, we all exist on somebody's record. Don't we." He finished Sean's beer and put the bottle down.

For a few seconds nothing was said.

"Do you believe in God?" Albus asked suddenly.

"What?" Sean didn't know what this was about.

"God…do you believe he exist?"

"Yes." Sean blurted. His Breathing heavy.

"Oh you do?" Albus actually looked slightly interested. "Don't meet many wizards that believe in God. Not these days. Not even Muggle-borns. Most of em' give up on that stuff the moment they find out magic actually exist."

"I know." It was all Sean could think to say.

"So what are you, Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist, what?"

"I'm not Religious…"

"But you believe in God?"

"Yes."

"Which God?"

"What?"

"You seem to have a problem with your hearing." Albus face was still stone and emotionless. "I said, which God do you believe in?"

"The God…"

"That's not an answer." Al said instantly. "Allah, Jehovah, Zeus, which God do you believe in?"

"Err…Ja…Jeho -"

"Jehovah." Albus finished for him.

"Yes."

"But you don't believe in Religion?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Sean had to think for a second. "I…because…it's… -"

"Oh, I see." Albus cut across again. "You don't like the rules of men?"

Sean simply stared. He had no idea what he was talking about.

"You think that Religion was created by men…not God. And therefore the rules of religion don't actually apply. I happen to agree. People like us don't follow the rules of men do we? We operate around them, beyond them…"

Sean nodded. Still shaking.

"You know why I think you believe in God?" Albus didn't wait for him to answer. "It's because you hope that after everything you've done, you will be judged as a soldier and not as a murderer." Albus mused. "That you will be seen as justified in your actions… It seems an ignominious reason to believe in God if you ask me."

Sean visible gulped.

"I believe in God you know…"

Sean simply stared, trying to stop his eyes from meeting the gun.

"Yeah, I know! Me, a pureblood, believing in God! Crazy right?!" Albus laughed. "I too don't follow Religion. But that's a different story…"

"Well…why?" Sean asked absently.

"I don't think that's any of your fuckin' business!" Albus shot back instantly. No emotion, rage or anything else in his voice.

Sean almost pissed himself right then and there. No matter how tough he was or what he had been through, standing in the same room as a man with a shotgun and a pure, unstoppable intent to kill you was terrifying.

"I also believe…" Albus carried on as if Sean had never interrupted. "That what goes around, comes around…" Albus chimed. "You've been going around killing people like me for a very long time…and now I've come around, see how that works?"

Sean nodded automatically.

"But I wonder…after I'm done… Will there be some pissed off maniac with a serious grudge that comes to visit me one day? Seems to be some kind of cycle of life…" Albus took a moment to think. He saw Sean shaking and his resolve was re-strengthened. He was scared out of his wits. Well at least that's something.

"I mean look at Voldemort…He went around for years as the biggest baddest motha fucker of them all. Killing for no reason, reason, fun etc. He built up his empire, got fucked, came back and did it all again. Until…fate came back around…and delivered my father to the wizarding world. My dad did the business and then it was over. We had peace. All was well. Then you guys show up and here we are…"

Albus cleared his throat.

"I guess, what I'm really wondering is whether, I am what comes around or am I what goes around?" Albus waited for an answer that he knew Sean couldn't give. "I don't know…I don't know, I mean some people say that this whole thing is decided by our choices. What is right, what is easy…who knows…"

He looked Sean dead in the eyes.

"God knows…we're all on his record." He added with a smile.

Al checked his wrist watch. He took a deep breath trough his nose. "So where's your brother?" He asked light-heartedly.

"Away." Sean said simply.

"Away? Well then I guess we'll just have to wait."

"Gonna be waiting for a while…he's away for the weekend."

"Ah…Well I'm not that patient." Albus stood. "Guess I'll just have to come back…"Albus's eyes locked on Sean's. They were filled with darkness. "Or just wait for him to find me."

He cocked the shotgun.

It was time.

Sean's heart was beating so hard his chest was shaking. He was about to die.

It was too much. Urine began spilling down Sean's leg. "We never meant to hurt her!" He cried out suddenly. It was his last ditch effort to save himself.

"I know."

"We were there for you!" Tears were actually falling from Sean's eyes now.

"I know." Albus voice was almost understanding.

"Please…"

"No." Albus said clearly.

"Don't do this!"

"You almost killed the woman I love more than anything in this world." Albus was looking him dead in the eye. "That cannot and will not, go unanswered."

"We didn't mean to…" Sean sobbed. His knees were buckling.

"But you did." Albus voice was still understand. Like a mentor speaking to a student. "You did."

"Please, I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"

Albus pointed the shotgun at Sean's head.

"Please…please…I'm sorry…I don't wanna die…"

"Neither do I." He said simply.

BANG!

His head erupted like a small explosive had gone off inside it. Blood, Brain matter and skull sprayed the living room.

The headless corpse of Sean Daggra fell to the floor.

For a second Albus did nothing. He simply stared at the body. Getting a feel for what he had done. For what he was going to do again. He admired it.

Death. It was so pure. So perfect.

This body. This corpse. This big piece of meat, would never have the chance to laugh again, love again, cry again or kill again.

He had killed before. But this was his first mission. His first assassination. His first execution.

He loved the finality of it. The total and overwhelming result. The result he was looking for. He had, after all, kissed goodbye to his normal life, the moment he had decided to go through with this.

He knew what he was doing. It was a conscious choice. He didn't screw up! They made him do this! They crossed the line! They took this too far!

It could have stay between them but they went one step further! They hurt his life line! I attacked the people he loved the most! And for that…he will drown them in their own blood!

On this Earth, everything simply stops at death. Whatever happens after, he didn't know. But as long as what these people were living, didn't happen again, he was contempt with his actions. If these people never had a chance to hurt anyone, ever again…then he didn't regret what he had done…

Of course…he would pray from him later.

Albus walked over to where Sean had been sitting. He picked up the small Mobile Phone and began searching through the names and recent calls.

"Hmm, you got a lot of friends…can't wait to meet em'."

He left the house.

'Granddad?'

=================== ISTANBUL - TURKEY - JULY 25TH - 2100 A.D. ===================

"Granddad?" Anya said again breaking Scorpius out of his daydream down memory lane.

He was in his study for a second day, retelling the story of Albus's life to his excitable Grand Daughter. The weather hadn't changed a it, expect that it was a hell of a lot hotter. The humidity was getting horrendous. Every door and window in the huge house had been left open and extra atmospheric charms had been put up to combat the summer.

"I'm sorry. I was just remembering something. I think I've left it out of the book. I'll have to alter it a bit later…never mind, where was I?" Scorpius asked his grand daughter.

"You were saying something about Lincoln." Anya reminded.

"Oh yes. Lincoln. Well I'm afraid we're going to have to take a step back before we continue on." Scorpius said.

"Huh?"

"Well I think it's important that you know a little bit about Lincoln and his sister. It becomes important later on you see." Scorpius explained.

"Okay." Anya smiled.

"Now it was back in 2005, no 2006 that Lincoln's life was first put on it's course to intertwine with Albus's…"

=================== AUSTIN - TEXAS - USA - MARCH 1ST 2006 A.D. ==================

'Lincoln was only ten years old at the time. His sister, Amelia was eight. They're mother had died during complications with Amelia's birth. But it was a far more serious reason that their father Douglas, was so very overprotective of his children.'

Lincoln was sitting at his desk in the cramped class room. Most of the students around him were on the verge of falling asleep but he was doing his best to listen. The teacher continued on about how the Bill of Rights was first written, while he took notes. History was his favourite subject, but because he and his sister had only arrived at this school a month earlier, he thought it was important to try and keep up with the work.

Of course, if tradition continued then he and his sister would probably be leaving this school in about six months. They'd jet halfway across the country and settle into a new town for a while. Then move again.

Six towns, six schools, six new names in four years. The latest on was Lincoln Fargo. It was only the second name that changed with the move. Lincoln often wondered if they would ever simply stop moving around. He didn't care that much. In honesty he never felt like he belonged anywhere he went. The constant moves were taking there toll on Amelia however.

She was always the centre of attention. She'd instantly make friends anywhere they went and would then be heart broken when she had to leave them. Lincoln didn't have any friends. He simply never felt like he could connect to anyone.

The school bell rang, waking up most of the people that had actually fallen asleep.

Lincoln gathered up his things and left the class room.

In the hallway, hundreds of students were walking to and from they're lockers, packing away books, grabbing jackets and getting ready to leave for the day. Lincoln went to his locker and followed suit.

"Hey." Amelia said walking over to him.

"Hey. How was?"

"Boring. I liked Seattle better. It's too hot here." She groaned.

"You'll get used to it. Or we'll just move again." Lincoln sighed.

"Lincoln why do we keep having to move?" Amelia asked.

"Cos dad says so."

"But why? I mean…" She moved closer and lowered her voice. "You haven't used it in almost a year!"

"Dad says we can't stay in the same place to long so we don't." Lincoln said quickly, shutting his locker.

They started walking down the hall. It was two hot for a jacket so they simply carried them.

"I didn't wanna leave Seattle. I liked it there!" Amelia whined again.

"I know. But dad says it's dangerous for us to stay in one place for too long." He repeated.

"Hey Faggot!" A voice said from behind.

Lincoln sighed. He didn't need this crap. Not on a hot day like this. He turned to see Jay Weller. The school bully. Enormous for a twelve year old. Next to him were four of his friends. Not as big as him but nevertheless intimidating.

"You still own me money!" Jay growled.

"No I don't." Lincoln said weakly.

"See you still don't get it. It's a standard charge for new kids. See you pay me and I make sure you don't get bothered by any of the of kids." Jay spouted off.

"That's bullshit!"

"Lincoln please, just give him the money." Amelia said quietly.

"Yeah Faggot!" Jay clearly thought that because Faggot and Fargo began with the letter F, he was being cleaver. "Do as ya little girlfriend says and give me the money!"

"She's my sister!" Lincoln hissed. He was getting angry.

"Oh, well then she's a newbie and owes me money as well!"

"No." Lincoln said.

Jay suddenly pushed Lincoln against the lockers. His rage was blowing gauges at this point. But he couldn't fight him. His father had told him, under no circumstances is he to fight anyone.

"I don't wanna fight you." Lincoln said weakly.

"I don't blame you! I wouldn't wanna fight me neither!" Jay growled as his friends giggled.

Suddenly Jay threw a massive right hook at Lincoln's face. His fist never impacted. Instead it actually passed straight through Lincolns head and slammed into the locker behind it. There was a horrible crunch and Jay yelled in pain. He had broken his knuckles.

"AHHH!" Jay screamed.

His friends looked at him in complete horrified shock.

"Lincoln!" Amelia cried.

Lincoln panicked. Ten months without using it and he had just shown his power to a group of school bullies. Amelia looked terrified.

He grabbed her arm and they ran towards the exit, leaving Jay behind them to whine in pain and his friends to stand in stunned silence.

Despite the heat, Amelia and Lincoln ran the entire way home. By the time they reach the house they were both panting for air and sweating like crazy.

The house was a standard two floored, three bed roomed home that looked extremely like every other house on the block.

The burst through the front door and into the house.

"DAD! DAD!" Lincoln cried.

"Yeah, I'm back here." Their father said from the living room.

They ran into the room where Douglas Shakespeare was sitting watching a football game on TV. He had a kind face and the look of a construction worker.

"What's wrong?!" He asked seeing the scared looks on his children's faces.

"Lincoln used his power!" Amelia said quickly.

"I'm sorry dad! It wasn't my fault. Jay tried to hit me and it just happened! I didn't mean to!" Lincoln said frantically.

His father came over and hugged him. "It's alright, it's alright. Are you hurt" Doug asked.

Lincoln shook his head.

"Alright, Amy, I want you to go upstairs and pack some clothes for you and your brother." Amelia nodded and ran up stairs. "Lincoln, the emergency box, in the shed, do you remember where it is?"

"Yeah."

"I need you to go and get it and then go and help your sister. Here's the keys." Doug said handing his son a set of house keys.

Lincoln started walking towards the backdoor then stopped and turned. "Dad, I'm sorry." He whimpered.

"It's alright son, but we have to leave now. Go." His dad said. Lincoln shot towards the back door.

Lincoln ran to the back of the garden and began fiddling with the keys. He found the shed key and unlocked the padlock. The moment he was inside he began moving tool and boxes out of the way trying to get to a covered section in the corner. He finally pulled away and old dusty rag revealing a small metal box. He undid the latch and looked inside.

Passports, money, fake ID's. Everything was there. He closed up the box and quickly ran back to the house.

Lincoln froze as he got to the back door. He could hear a voice inside that didn't belong to his father.

"You shouldn't have run from us Douglas." The voice was calm and professional.

Lincoln very carefully put the box down on the floor and peered through the window.

In the living room he could see three men. One a large black man, wearing a trench coat. Two other men were behind him looking around the living room. He couldn't get a very good look at them because of the dirt on the window glass but he could see his father was backing away from them, looking terrified.

"Please…please…" Doug begged.

"You know this has to happen Douglas." The black man said.

"No, not my son, please! It's not him, it can't be!" Douglas continued to plead.

"And if your wrong?" The black man pulled what looked like a small metal pipe from his jacket. He gave it a jolt and it extended to twice the length, like a police baton. "You and your daughter can still have a life Douglas. But Lincoln has to come with us."

"Daddy?" Amelia had walked into the living room. She saw the three men and immediately tried to run but one of them grabbed her and pulled her back into the room.

"NO, LET HER GO! PLEASE!" Doug screamed.

"DADDY!" Amelia cried.

"Were not here for her Douglas, just tell us where Lincoln is!" The black man demanded.

Lincoln looked around frantically. He saw a small little league baseball bat that he had been playing with on the weekend, still propped up against the wall. He grabbed the bat, took a breath and charged into the house.

"NO! LINCOLN!" Doug screamed but I was to late.

Lincoln swung for the black man but he was too fast and grabbed the bat. The black man raised the baton but was suddenly tackled by Doug.

One of the other men pulled a similar baton from his jacket and aimed it at Lincoln. It fired and a thin metal cable shot from the tip. The cable passed straight through Lincoln's chest. He moved just as the second man fired. The cable struck the sofa.

Amelia elbowed the nearest man in the balls. He fell to the ground, dropping his baton.

"RUN LINCOLN!" Doug screamed, still wrestling with the black man.

Lincoln grabbed the bat and ran over to his sister. He hit the man that was already floored in the face with the bat, knocking him out cold.

Suddenly the second man was right behind him. A pair of huge razor sharp metal claws flipped out of the tip of his baton and he swung at Lincoln. One of the claws connected, slicing Lincolns back open. He yelled in pain and blood gushed from the open cut.

Lincoln fell to the floor. Amelia jumped on top of him, using her body to shield him.

The man pointed his baton at Amelia but didn't fire.

"Please…please no!" Amelia cried, tears streaming down her face.

"MOVE KID!" The man yelled. When it was obvious that she wasn't going to he flicked his baton. Amelia was suddenly lifted into the air by some invisible force. He pointed his want at Lincoln again but was tackled by Doug before he could fire.

Doug had managed to break away from the black man. He began punching the other man in the face over and over as Amelia helped Lincoln to his feet. They scurried around behind the sofa, heading for the back door.

Lincoln looked back, just in time to see the black man raise his baton at Doug.

There was a clap of red light and bolt of energy shot from the tip of his baton. The bolt hit Doug in the back. Blood strayed across the wall and floor. The bolt had gone straight through his body leaving a huge gaping hole in his chest.

Douglas Shakespeare slumped over and breathed his last breath.

"DADDY!" Lincoln cried.

The black man wheeled around and fired at Lincoln. Another bolt of red energy collided with the sofa, blasting it apart.

Lincoln and Amelia bolted to the back door and out into the garden as more bolts of light collided with the walls around them. Amelia grabbed the box as they cut left, jumping the fence and running through the back garden of the adjourning house.

Lincoln was faltering. He was loosing too much blood. Amelia was using all her strength to hold him up but he was too heavy. They cut around the house and across more gardens.

They jumped another fence but on the other side was a steep ten foot fall. They fell and rolled across the ground, falling into a large bush.

They stopped and stayed silent, trying to hide them selves in the heavy foliage.

They both froze on the stop as they watched the black man and the two other men running threw the gardens. Without stopping they ran straight past the bush that Lincoln and Amelia were hiding in and continued through the gardens.

Lincoln and Amelia breathed a sigh of relief. They slowly crawled out from the bush and changed direction heading into the next street.

The sun was beginning to set on the horizon.

Lincoln was barely conscious as they continued to move through the gardens of the suburb.

Eventually they stopped at a house. It looked a lot like there's but undamaged. All the lights were off. It was as good a bet as any.

Lincoln slumped next to the back door while Amelia tried the handle. Locked.

"Oh, please open!" She begged trying the door handle even harder.

Suddenly there was a click and the lock popped open. Amelia looked shocked for a second as the door opened but then turned her attention back to her brother. She helped him drag himself inside. She closed and locked the door behind them.

After drawing the blinds she turned on the light. They were in a very clean and brand new kitchen. Amelia began running cold water from the tap while searching for a towel.

She found one, wet it and began trying to clean the dirt out of Lincolns wound. It wasn't good. The large slash started at his left shoulder blade and carried on across his spine. He hissed and cringed as she continued to clean it.

"What are you doing in here?" A low smooth voice asked.

Lincoln and Amelia froze. He instinctively moved his sister behind him and turned to face the person.

There was a gun pointed at his face. It was being held by a woman in her mid twenties with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. She didn't look angry, more cautious.

"Please…please…my brothers been hurt…" Amelia squeaked.

The woman looked at the blood stained towel on the side. She thought for a second then lowered the gun.

"Show me your back." She said. Her accent wasn't American.

Lincoln cautiously turned. The woman looked the wound up and down for a second. She looked at Amelia and seemed to be deep in thought. After a second or so she sighed. She tucked the gun into the back of her trousers, reached into her pocket and pulled out a long wooden stick.

She pointed the stick at his wound and began muttering what sounded like a lullaby.

To Amelia's amazement, the wound began to close itself. She stood watching with pure shock on her face.

When the woman had finished, the wound was barely a quarter of the size. She finished by conjuring a white bandage of thin air which rapped itself over Lincolns wound.

"How…how did you -" Amelia breathed.

"I'm a witch." The woman responded.

"A witch?" Lincoln repeated.

"Yes."

"You mean like magic and stuff?" Amelia asked.

"Yes." She turned to Lincoln who was shifting his back around trying to get a feel for the bandage. "Where are you parents?" She asked.

Lincoln looked away and tear appeared in Amelia's eyes.

The woman clearly got the message. "Do you know who attacked you?" She asked.

Lincoln shook his head. "Dad just said they wanted to hurt me." he said quietly.

"Why?"

"Because I'm…different…"

"What do you mean?" The woman asked.

"Lincoln…" Amelia warned.

"She helped us Amy." Lincoln turned to the woman. "I can…sometimes things…go through me." She said awkwardly.

"Go through you? Can you show me?" She asked, highly curious.

"NO!" Amelia yelled. "They'll find us again!"

"Dad said they can find me when I use my power." Lincoln agreed quietly.

"Huh…Heard of your kind…I thought you were a myth." The woman said. She looked over at the back door. "And is that how you got in here?"

Lincoln and Amelia looked at each other for a second. "The door just came open." Amelia said quietly.

"No it didn't." The woman said giving Amelia an intimidating look. Amelia shrank in her seat.

The scene was broken when the sounds of a baby crying in another room were heard. The woman immediately left the kitchen. Amelia and Lincoln sat uncomfortably for a moment. For a second they both thought about making a run for it, but couldn't seem to move.

Lincoln rubbed his face feeling the sadness creeping up in his stomach again.

Amelia held her brothers hand and began to cry quietly into his shoulder.

The woman re-entered the room whispering softly to the three month old baby in her arms. "Did mummy wake you? Did mummy wake you? Mummy's sorry." The Woman's intimidating streak had melted away in to that of a warm, welcoming and loving mother.

She gently rocked the baby for a second then looked at Lincoln and Amelia.

"What are your names?" She asked.

"I'm Lincoln Shakespeare. This is my sister Amelia."

"I'm Rachael." She smiled at the little bundle of joy and brought her baby closer to Lincoln and Amelia. "This is Aurora."

A baby girl with jet black hair and beautiful wolf like eyes looked up at them and smiled.

A/N - The shotgun that Albus used at the beginning of the chapter was inspired by the weapon that Anton Chirgurh (Javier Bardem) used in the novel and film No Country for Old Men.


	2. Analyze This!

2. ============================ ANALYZE THIS! =============================

=============== HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 19TH 2020 A.D. ===============

Albus was sitting at the Gryffindor table eating a very unsatisfying lunch. For some reason, no matter how much food he forced down his throat he was still hungry. He blamed it on the horrible empty feeling that had taken up residence in the pit of his stomach.

His nose was still a little bruised and aching. Although Laura Pomfrey had managed to fix it in less then five minutes flat, it still hurt. Not because of the injury it's self but because of what caused it.

He looked over his shoulder at the Ravenclaw table. Aurora was sitting next to Cody whilst chatting with Lynx, Violet and the rest of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. That girl had one hell of a hook on her. One punch was all it took to break his nose like a toothpick and knock him out cold.

Maybe I shouldn't have called her a cold hearted, manipulative, two-faced bitch…

He had felt so guilty for the whole two and a half heartbeats that connected his insult to her punch. He was hoping that it would be Cody that attacked him. Albus was trying to goad and get a rise out of him by insulting her, but he didn't. In fact he had barely said a word. Aurora had done all the talking or rather shouting.

Albus didn't know where it came from. These sudden bursts of uncontrollable rage. He said things he didn't mean. Horrible things. Thing he wished he could erase from history, but he couldn't. It was done. Strangely enough though, he never exploded with energy in the same way he would around anyone else. He got angry, more than angry and if it was anyone else he probably would have de-railed the train with a shockwave, but he didn't. Not around her. He also couldn't seem to take his eyes off her. Both then and now.

She looked even more beautiful than before and had carried on with her odd tradition of growing taller and taller over the summer. She was only about to turn 15 and was now pushing 5,11. Lynx, like-wise has carried on with her odd talent of going up several bra sizes when no one was looking. Her chest dimensions attracted a lot of unwelcome attention at Hogwarts these days.

She had even been asked out by a few seventh years, despite the fact that she was only a fifth year. It was pretty obvious why she turned them down (The girl sitting across from her). Violet (Who had only gotten more desirable) had followed suit with Aurora and grown slightly taller over the summer but was now also sporting a shiny Ravenclaw Prefects badge. Cody fucking Miller had claimed the other one.

Aurora looked over her shoulder and for a second, she and Albus locked eyes. God, she's beautiful…

She turned away quickly with a worn look of anger and sadness on her face. Albus's heart sank. He felt guilty and angry.

If she had never gone out with that prick, none of this would have ever happened! Why won't she have me?

It was a question that had occupied Albus's thoughts for most of the summer. He didn't care what people thought anymore. He just wanted her…

"You two still not talking to each other?" His best friends voice asked.

Scorpius, despite the fact that it was the Gryffindor table, had taken a seat across from Al. He didn't bother answer the question.

"I hope this isn't gonna become a regular thing this year. You and her having an argument every few days or just not speaking to each other for weeks on end. You know, half the kids in school heard your little exchange on board the Express?" Scorpius said while helping him self to a piece of toast.

"You. Don't. Say." Albus scowled sarcastically.

"Hey! I'm just sayin' Lots of nasty words were used around the first years." Malfoy tried not to laugh.

Albus and Aurora's fight on board the Hogwarts Express earlier in the month was still pretty big gossip. Especially the part where she knocked him out. She was now a very popular girl around Hogwarts. After the part she played in the destruction of the Shrieking Shack, the rumors about her magical ability and of course her leading Ravenclaw to victory over Gryffindor (Winning the Quidditch cup) at the end of last year, she was on everybody's hot list. When she started at Hogwarts she as well have been the daughter of Voldemort. Now she was seen as the Mysterious, powerful, sexy rebel.

Albus sighed and filled a bowl full of cereal and milk and again began eating away his troubles.

"How's things with you and your old man?" Albus asked trying to change the subject.

"Not bad. We correspond a bit more. Don't get to spend much time together though."

"Well, he just got promoted. Being head of a department keeps you pretty busy." Albus said.

"Yeah…listen we don't actually have to go through with this thing this afternoon, do we?" Scorpius asked quietly. "I mean it was just a suggestion?"

"Have you ever heard of my aunt giving a single suggestion that wasn't actually an order?"

Scorpius's face dropped. "Bollocks!" Albus had a sneaking suspicion that his Aunt had pushed for Draco's promotion as a way of saying 'thank you' for what Scorpius did for her nephew. Of course it also meant that Draco couldn't turn down her request for the children to have some form of counselling this year. Her intelligence was really starting to annoy Albus. No one should be that smart! It's not fair on the rest of us!

Albus turned back to look at Aurora again. Some part of him was hoping that she would turn and see him as well, but she wasn't at the table anymore.

He caught a quick glimpse of her and Lynx leaving the hall together. Cody, Violet and the others were still sitting at the table.

"There they go again." Albus muttered to himself.

"They going to use the Room of Requirement again?" Scorpius asked.

"Probably, they've been sneaking off up there every day for the past two weeks." Albus scowled. He wanted to know what they were up to.

_Whoopie! SPLASH!_

Something small, purple and fluffy had just taken a dive bomb into Albus's cereal.

"For Christ's sake! Lily! Control your damn Pygmy-Puff!" He growled whilst fishing the excited fur-ball out of his bowl.

"Goliath!" Lily said walking over towards them. "There you are!"

The purple ball of fluff jumped around and squeaked repeatedly while trying to escape Albus's grip.

"Of all the Pygmy-Puffs you could have had, you pick the deranged one!"

"Goliath is not derange!" Lily hissed

"You named your Pygmy-Puff Goliath?" Scorpius asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah. So?" Lily glared.

Scorpius held up his hands innocently.

"He's just happy is all. He likes you." Lily said.

"He's like a hyperactive squirrel!" Albus huffed.

"No he's not!" Lily whined angrily.

"I think he's got a point Lily…" Scorpius said watching the Puff jump around and squeak so rapidly it soundly like a high pitched machine gun. "Is that thing on Crack?"

For a moment Lily looked like she was about to deploy the dreaded Bat-Bogey Hex that was only reserved only for the women of the Weasley/Potter family to use is moments of extreme anger. Instead she stormed off.

Albus pushed the bowl of cereal away mainly because it now had several purple hair floating around in it. He began helping himself to a few sausages and some toast. Scorpius suddenly realized just how much Albus was eating.

"Bloody hell Al. You entering an eating contest or something?"

"I've got Weasley blood inside me."

"You got a bloody waste disposal unit inside ya." Scorpius laughed.

"I'm surprised you know what a waste disposal is." Al said honestly.

"Mum's quite into Muggle stuff at the moment. Apparently its back in fashion." Scorpius said absently.

"I thought I saw people dressed a little oddly in Diagon Alley."

"Yeah, that and those glass screen TV's, everyone wants one of those."

"I've seen. There putting them up all over London. They only show the news though. Muggle news I mean." Albus said.

A Few hours later, Albus, Scorpius, Rose, Hugo, Lily and Henry Hammings were sitting at the largest table in the library. All of them had homework due the next day and had decided to help each other out as much as possible. Albus was leaning back in his chair, already half way through Kinsey's guide to Advanced Transfiguration. Much to his annoyance, his hunger had managed to re-appear almost the moment they had left the great hall.

The homework assignment had actually been to read Kinsey's guide to Intermediate Transfiguration but Albus has finished the entire book before lunch time and had decided to simply move on to the advanced copy.

Reading was the only thing that took his mind of all the crap he was having to deal with. In fact, since he returned to Hogwarts he had read through more books than ever before. Even more amazing was the fact that he was somehow able to retain all the knowledge he picked up. This however didn't help him much…There were no special sections in the books about; 'How to separate the love of your life from the handsome wanker she is with and then win her heart'

Although he could probably get an Outstanding in the Theory side of things, he would probably only manage to acquire a P(Poor) at the Practical. That's if he managed to rise about a D(Dreadful) or even a T(Troll). His magical ability hadn't improved since he started his fourth year. In fact it was worse than ever. Not only was he still unable to perform even the simplest of spells, his other ability, which he still had absolutely no explanation for, was all over the place.

His arguments with his family about his mental state had actually caused some slight property damage at Potter Manor. For the most part he was able to keep it under control until he could get somewhere away from prying eyes, to release his anger. Now back at Hogwarts, that was much more difficult. Not just because of the added stress of classes and homework but also because of…her.

Albus had actually gone so far as to turn the Room of Requirement into what looked like a giant padded cell in order to deal with it. It was the only place he could let his sudden bursts of energy out without causing mass destruction.

"Rose…" Hugo whispered. "What's the incantation for that charm that makes your voice go really loud?" He had obviously hit a block on his Charms homework.

"Sonorus." She whispered back.

"Al, do think Aurora would help me with my Transfiguration practical?" Hamming's asked.

Albus's left eye twitched slightly. "How the hell should I know!" He spat without looking up from his book.

Henry looked slightly frightened and went back to his homework. Quite a lot of the students had become a little intimidated by Albus after the events on board the Hogwarts Express.

Scorpius tapped Hamming on the arm and whispered. "Don't worry mate. He's just in a bit of a mood at the mo. Him and Aurora had another fight."

"Another one?" Hamming's said a little too loudly.

Albus glared at them both for a second and then went back to his book.

"Yeah…big one. Lasted about 45 minutes!" Lily added.

"I think that's a new record. The one they had on the train only lasted about 30. Oh well. At least she didn't break his nose again." Hamming's said quietly.

Albus began gripping his book harder and harder. That fact that they actually thought he couldn't hear them was stupid and aggravating.

The argument this morning had started over her relationship with Cody Miller, as it always did. Aurora had once again been the bigger person and attempted to make peace with Al. Of course, Albus's jealousy had again gotten the better of him and their mainly peaceful conversation had turned into a full blown shouting match in a matter of seconds. Then came the other little things that had been getting under Albus's skin.

The main one (Apart from her relationship with another bloke.) was that she had been sneaking off to the Room of Requirement with Lynx. This annoyed him for two reasons.

First: It meant that he couldn't use the Room while they were inside. Second: Lynx is a lesbian that finds Aurora almost as attract as Violet Finnigan. If Aurora was dating Cody while playing around with Lynx, then Albus knew that he had been given the shaft for not just another man, but a woman as well!

_POP!_ Henry jumped and dropped his book.

The sudden bursts of light that often occurred when he was angry had only increased lately. They confused the hell out of people that saw them and seriously pissed Albus off because he had no control over them either. The rest of the people at the table were looking around to see were the light had come from. Henry searched his book for the place that he had lost.

Albus tried to calm himself.

Be patient. You'll soon know exactly what they are up to.

Albus smirked to himself. The only people in school that were more sneaky than Scorpius Malfoy, were the Bobs. Albus had paid them 20 Galleons each to find out what Lynx and Aurora were up to when they were in the Room of Requirement. So far they had had a week without result, but Albus was confidant that they would find out.

Speak of the devil…we'll devil's.

The Bobs were strutting through the library. As they passed, they cast Muffliato on the librarian. She started swatting the air, probably thinking that a fly was buzzing around her.

"Afternoon chaps and chapettes."

"Hey, any luck?" Albus asked quickly.

"Luck no, skill yes." Bob one smiled.

"That's correct Bob, I think that someday we should document our wonderful ways." Bob two agreed.

"Nah, let's just pay someone else to."

"Well, what are they up to?" Albus asked.

"Alas, there was no hot kinky girl on girl action I'm afraid…" Bob one said sadly. Hugo's head popped up like a startled deer at the mention of 'girl on girl action'

"Bob's right, it's one of the only reasons that we took this assignment."

"How did you get in?" Rose asked sceptically.

"Sometimes simple ways are the best ways, don't you think Bob?"

"I do think so Bob. We masterfully rigged up a very simple device that was cleverly concealed above the door…"

"Yes and when the door was opened by the possible lesbians, a very small pin dropped down and prevented the door from closing completely…"

"A tiny crack, naked to the human eye but enough to pick up a conversation with a pair of Extendable ears."

"Yes, we threaded the ears through and Roberts your fathers brother."

"Second cousin actually." Bob two corrected.

Rose actually looked quite impressed.

"So what are they doing?" Albus asked.

"Your unobtainable lass is helping the feisty miss Cabot to become an Animagus!" Bob one announced.

"Aurora's an Animagus?!" Scorpius blurted in amazement.

"For what we overheard, no. But she has met quite a few of them and knows the theory pretty well. Lynx is apparently making lots of progress." Bob two informed.

"What form does Lynx take?" Lily asked.

"Again, we're unsure. Sounds like she hasn't managed to transform all the way just yet. But she's been practicing since the summer. We caught a glimpse of some white fur in there." Bob one said.

"Polar Bear maybe."

"Oh yeah, because she needs to be more intimidating!" Scorpius said, sarcasm dripping.

"Was she naked?" Hugo asked quickly.

"Hugo!" Rose and Lily yelled.

The men in the area ignored the annoyed cries of the ladies to hear the answer to the question.

"Fraid not. Don't need to get ya kit off to transform do ya." Bob two said.

"A shame about that. Can't say I'd complain about getting a glimpse of Lynx's bare chest." Bob one agreed.

Rose and Lily rolled their eyes.

"She's got a great rack!" Hugo sighed, trying to imagine them.

"Hey! There are girls at this table!" Lily hissed.

"Your not girls, your just really small guys with long hair." Hugo laughed causing Henry and the Bob's to snigger. "If you were girls, you'd have big tits like Lynx!"

Both Rose and Lily were going for their wands when Scorpius spoke. "Jesus Hugo! When did you become a walking hard-on?!" Scorpius laughed.

"What?! You seen the size of her tits?! Their huge and she's only 15!" He retorted.

"Yeah and your only 12! Your not suppose to be thinking about these things yet!" Rose hissed.

"Oh what, like you don't think about shagging!" Hugo shot back.

Scorpius suddenly spluttered and started coughing loudly. Rose went bright red but still looked angry.

"There is defiantly something wrong with you Weasley's. Don't you think so Bob?"

"I do think so Bob. Sex, Sex, Sex, Sex! On your ya brains all the time! No wonder your family's so big!"

If Rose's glare had been a curse there would be several dead people in the room right now.

"You think Aurora would help me learn to be an animag…" Henry broke off the moment he noticed Albus's eyes burning into his.

"She's not a teacher you know." Lily added.

"Starting to wish she was…Blimey! It would be wicked to be an Animagus! I loved to be one!" Hugo exclaimed.

"It takes a hell of a lot of work Hugo. It took the Marauders over two years to finally master it." Rose announced. Hugo wasn't listening though. He had began chatting avidly with Henry about which Animagus form would be the best.

"What would you be Mal?" Henry asked.

"I don't know. They say Animagus forms are usually something like your Patronus and I haven't learnt to cast a Patronus yet. Wouldn't mind being something that could fly though. Be handy in a tight spot." Scorpius said.

"That would be why Aurora isn't an Animagus." Albus muttered.

"Huh?"

"Aurora's Patronus is a Phoenix. It's impossible to become a Phoenix Animagus. It's one of the Principle Exceptions of Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration." Albus explained.

Rose looked like she was about to ready run over and hug Albus. She was beaming at him, probably due to the fact that he had memorized the Five Principle Exceptions to Gamp's Law. The others however looked like he had just started speaking in Gobbledegook.

"Why can't you learn to be a Phoenix Animagus?" Lily asked.

"The forth exception of Gamp's law; A human mass cannot be transfigured into a magical mass. In other words you can't become a Phoenix, Giant, House elf, Centaur, Goblin, Thestral or any other kind of magical animal. It's possible, but rare that you would have a magical creature as a Patronus. Dumbledore and Aurora are the only people I've ever heard of having one. Except there was that one guy a few hundred years ago that apparently had a Patronus the size of a giant...I forget his name but anyway. There you go. Oh and you also can't be transfigured into a Time-turner or Vanishing cabinet or anything like that." Albus explained.

The others thought about it for a moment. Hugo's dream of becoming a Dragon Animagus had been crushed and he didn't look to happy about it.

"What are the other four exceptions?" Henry asked.

"One: You can't conjure food from nothing. Two: You can't transfigure something dead into something living. Three: You can't travel more than 24 hours into the past. Four: You know. :Five…you can't conjure love…" The last one was spoken with an dose of sadness around it. He hated that law.

"Why can't you travel back in time?" Bob one asked snappily.

"Not that we were planning on doing anything like that…were we Bob?" Bob two didn't sound very convincing.

"Of course not Bob! It's illegal without permission."

"And we always obey the laws…"

Rose again, rolled her eyes.

"Because of the curvature and movement of the earth." Albus said absently.

The Bob's and everyone else (Except Rose of course) looked like something slimy had fallen on their heads. Rose again looked overjoyed at Albus sudden interest in Transfiguration.

Albus sighed and took a breath. "The earth spins round and round like a top and at the same time it spins around the sun. When you use a time turner, your location doesn't change but time does. You go back more then 24 hours and the earth would have moved too far and you'd probably end up in space. Or at the least on the other side of the planet…It's got something to do with the Planet's Room in the Department of Mysteries. I don't know for sure, I'm only halfway through the chapter." Albus said, finding his place in Advanced Transfiguration.

"Huh, I thought conjuring money was one of them." Bob One mused.

"No, you can create your own money but the Goblin's would know it from a mile away. They have ways of detecting counter-fitting. Same thing if you tried to make muggle money and then change it for Galleons. They would know instantly." Albus said as his eyes continued to scan the pages in front of him.

He Bobs sighed.

"I thought Rose was suppose to be the smart one…" Scorpius said before noticing how scandalized Rose looked. "Not that she isn't extremely smart!" Scorpius recovered. "I just mean, when did you learn all this stuff?"

"I don't know…lately my brains been like a sponge. I've been reading a lot and I just…remember everything." Albus said.

"Except for the time!" Rose shrieked. "It's 5 to 4!"

She jumped up and began packing away her books. Albus and Scorpius huffed and did the same.

"Right, we've got this thing…with the thing…in the thing." Albus mumbled.

"A thing with the thing in the thing?" Bob one chimed.

"Sounds exhilarating." Bob two only added to the sarcasm.

"Don't tell anyone else that Lynx is learning how to be an Animagus okay?" Albus said to them quickly.

"Her secrets safe with us." Bob one assured.

"Have fun." Henry added.

Have fun?! Fun and Therapy do not happen at the same time! Albus thought as he Scorpius and Rose trudged off out of the Library.

Albus was still aggravated as he walked through the corridor. He couldn't believe that Hermione was actually making him talk to a councilor. The last thing that he wanted to do was sit down with a complete stranger and discuss his 'Feelings'. He had started to feel slightly flustered at the thought.

He had overheard his parents talking with Roses only a day after he had gotten back from the hospital. Hermione was concerned with what kind of emotional impact the events had had on Albus.

_I'M FINE!_

He wanted to storm straight into the kitchen and yell that at them but decided not to out of fear that he might cause some unintentional destruction. He knew it also had something to do with his casting of the Killing Curse. Everyone else had simply brushed of the idea that a fourteen year old could cast that. His father and a few people at the ministry however, knew differently.

It had been easy to cover up because Albus had actually used Henry Hamming's wand and not his own to cast the curse. Despite this he would still be forced to see a councilor.

_Dad never had to go to Therapy! He killed Quirrel when he was eleven! He had the worst childhood imaginable…but nooo! The Chosen One is perfectly well rounded! I destroy an old shack, fight on a train and kill a teacher and suddenly I'm the crazy one!_

The retort for that was that since Quirrel had Voldemort growing out of the back of his head, he was technically already dead.

_So what?! Lithgo's dead now! I made sure of that! I don't feel guilty about killing him! Hell, I'm glad I killed him! Wait…maybe that's why they've put me into therapy…nah…_

Albus remembered hearing them say something about the Dream Ripper curse. They were worried about how much exposure he had received. I suppose…

After a bit of research, it had been discovered that Albus actually held the record for being exposed to that kind of a curse for the longest time. The next on the list went insane and never recovered after only two and a half months of exposure. Albus had taken it for five months!

_Maybe I'm just a lot tougher than he was…_

"I can't believe your mom is actually making me go to this as well!" Scorpius huffed. "I never even got hit with the damn curse!"

"You got your chest ripped open by a crazy man Mal!" Rose shuddered. The memories of seeing that still upset her.

"So did my dad! By his dad! He never went to counseling!" Scorpius scowled.

"I doubt Voldemort had a health plan for death eaters…look at Bellatrix…" Rose said.

"He's right. This is bullshit. You are gonna write to your mother and tell her that the only thing this is doing is making us more stressed!" Albus demanded.

"Mum cares about you Al. She just wants to make sure your alright."

"Yeah? What's her excuse for me? We ain't exactly the best of chums." Scorpius asked.

"She's about to become minister! She can't show favoritism. She got your dad Promoted to say thank you! Besides, after what happened, I think all our families have more respect for you." Rose fluttered her eyelashes at Scorpius.

"Show respect by not making me do this!" He whined.

"It's only for a few weeks…might even be fun…" Rose said sheepishly.

Scorpius looked at her with wide eyes. He knew her, he loved her but this was straining credulity!

"You actually want to do this don't you?!" Scorpius asked in amazement.

Rose tried to answer several times before words actually came out of her mouth. "Well…I…just think…it couldn't hurt…"

"I don't wanna be psycho analyzed!" Scorpius growled.

"Me neither!"

"Please…just do it to make our parents feel better…" Rose pleaded.

"Fine!" Scorpius spat. He couldn't refuse his girl. She jumped at him and planted her lips against his.

"Rose! Corridor! Corridor!" Albus warned.

They broke apart straight away. It wasn't the first time they had forgotten that they were hiding their relationship. Scorpius looked around to make sure nobody had seen them while Rose straightened her clothes.

Albus's temperature was increasing the closer they got to the specially designated counselling rooms i.e. Empty class rooms.

"If this bird starts asking me about my sexual fantasies, I swear, I'm gonna knock her out!" Albus growled.

"You get a woman?!" Rose shrieked.

"Yeah." Albus said.

"Wanna trade?" Rose asked.

"I don't think it works like that." They reached the three small rooms that had been converted into counseling rooms. "Right, good luck pretending to be well adjusted."

The three split up and walked into they're designated rooms. As Albus opened the door he suddenly felt another wave of heat hit him and was now extremely uncomfortable.

Room 1: Albus

"Hello Albus." The Councilor said. Albus thought she bared a very strange likeness to Uncle Percy's wife.

"Hi." He said quietly. Albus said in a large comfy chair across from her.

"My name is Carol." She said.

Albus leaned forward and gave her a courteous handshake. As soon as he sat down he noticed that the temperature of the room was stupidly high.

"Is the Atmosphere Charm broken in here. It's boiling!" She said flapping the front of his shirt, bring a breeze onto his chest.

"I don't think so." She said. "Are you sure not just nervous?" She smiled.

"I'm not nervous. I'm annoyed. I think this is a total waste of time…no offence."

"That's alright, most people I talk to don't like it to begin with." She admitted.

"You talk to a lot of kids?"

"Not really." She said absently. "Hogwarts is usually the source of most children's happiness. There hasn't been a traumatic event at this school in over twenty years…but of course you know that."

"Who doesn't" He huffed.

"Ah." She said simply. A pad and Quill floated over towards her and began jotting notes.

"What's 'Ah'?" Al asked.

"You don't seem very happy about you fathers legacy." She said.

"No, I'm very happy! I think it's wonderful! Good on ya dad! I just don't like hearin' about it every two bloody seconds!" He was getting annoyed and more flustered. He realised that the analysis had already begun.

"Well I can understand that. You must hate all the expectation from people." She said as the quill continued to scribble.

"Yes, I hate it! My brother loves it! Me. No! That was his life! Not mine! I'm not a carbon bloody copy of my dad! I got the eyes and the stupid hair! That it! No scar, no bad eye sight, no incredible flying skills! No bloody Prophecy!" Albus huffed.

"I'm sure your quite happy about the latter…tell me. What else makes you angry?"

Room 2: Scorpius

"Hey! I may be angry but I never said I was afraid!" Scorpius growled.

"I know you didn't. But It would be perfectly natural if you were." His Councillor was called Hank.

Hank had made the mistake of saying that Scorpius has a chip on his shoulder for the adults around him. That pissed Scorpius off a lot…probably because it was true. He did hate Adults that automatically assumed he was like his father. No matter who they were.

"Well I'm not! I'm not afraid of my dad! I'm not afraid of Harry Bloody Potter! And I'm not afraid of Ron Weasley!" Scorpius blurted. He regretted it the moment he had.

"Ron Weasley?" Hank questioned.

Room 3: Rose

"He would kill me!" Rose whined.

"No he wouldn't. I think it's perfectly natural. A little early, but nevertheless natural." Her Councillor was called Aaron. He was way more posh and conservative than Hank or Carol. He probably charged the most for his services as well.

"What do you mean early?" Rose asked. Her cheeks were burning red hot.

"We'll I just think that 14 is a little young to be thinking about loosing your virginity." Aaron said simply.

"I DIDN'T SAY I WAS GONNA GO AND SHAG HIS BRAINS OUT TONIGHT!" Rose screamed.

"Of course you didn't. But you have thought about it." Aaron said. His tone hadn't changed once throughout the entire conversation.

Rose collapsed back onto the chair. She dropped her face into her hands.

"What am I going to do?!" She whined and trailed off into tears. "Sometimes I can't even do my homework! All I can think about is him…naked…and me…together…and…"

Room 1: Albus

"…Then all she says is that we can't! That we just can't! That's it! That's all the explanation I get!" Albus roared. " 'We can't' IS NOT A BLOODY EXPLANATION!"

"Well, perhaps it's something she is simply uncomfortable discussing." Carol said.

"Why?! Why should she be uncomfortable?! I gave her a chance when nobody else would! She at least owes me a good reason! But nooooo! She decides to run off with Cody Fucking Miller! Snogs him right in front of the whole fucking school!" Albus ranted.

"Well from what you described she didn't exactly intend that to happen."

"Didn't try to stop it though did she?! No! And if I say a word about it, what happens?! She throws a wobbler!"

"Well maybe she thinks you don't want her to be happy?" Carol suggested.

"Of course I want her to be happy! She saved my life! It's all I want for her!…and if I have to kill Cody Miller and make it look like an accident, for her to be happy, then I will!"

Room 2: Scorpius

"You will?"

"Yeah! I will! I tell him right now! Floo him! Get him over here and I'll tell him!" Scorpius boasted.

"You want me to bring Ron Weasley here?" Hank questioned.

"Well no…he's an Auror, he's probably busy…but I will tell him!" Scorpius said loosing some of his momentum.

"I'm sure, when the time is right, you will." Hank smiled.

"I will! I'll walk right up to him and say; I'm dating your daughter! I love her and there's nothing you can do about it!"

Room 3: Rose

"What do you mean nothing?!" Rose shrieked.

"Well, this is a time in a teenagers life when hormones begin to show them selves."

"I know what puberty it!" Rose hissed through gritted teeth.

"Yes, and I don't mean to be crass but you're a Weasley. I'm afraid your just going to have to live with it." Aaron stated delicately.

"What do you mean I'm a Weasley?!" Rose was using every ounce of self control she had.

"Well…I'll admit that there has been some speculation that the Weasley's carry a hormone imbalance. It would explain why there are so many…"

Room 1: Albus

"Well of course there's a lot!" Albus scowled. "No one likes to be lonely."

"ANALYZE THIS!" _BANG!_

Albus and Carols attention was suddenly drawn to the room next door to there's.

"Do you hear that?" Albus asked.

"Somebody probably dropped something…" More like Nose just cursed someone! I mean Rose…weird…

"Of course, no one wants to be lonely." She continued.

Albus was feeling extremely hot and a little light headed. Did she put something in my drink?! Wait, I didn't have a drink…eemmm drink would be nice…

"But you seem to have some very good friends around you Albus. You shouldn't be afraid to trust them with your feelings." Carol said.

"I'm bot!" Albus answered but didn't seem to have actually listened to what she was saying. She didn't pick up on his slur. He was visibly sweating now. He was flapped his shirt again and again but the tiny gust of air it brought just wasn't enough.

Is it suppose to be this pot…hot?

"I'm really hot…" Albus said quietly.

"You do seem quite flushed Albus. Maybe we should call that a day." Carol said looking a little worried.

"Yeah…I'll lick some hair…I mean I'll get some air…"

Albus stood but was suddenly hit with a wave of dizziness. He almost fell straight back down but managed to keep his balance.

"Whoa! Head rush…stood up to fast." Albus giggled. He wobbled his way over to the door.

He went for the handle but missed it completely. He was seeing double.

He giggled again, acting like a man who had ingested a full bottle of Fire whiskey.

"He he…missed handle…" He babbled.

Albus's eye rolled into the back of his skull and he collapsed, out cold.

"Oh my god! Albus can you hear me!?" Carol shrieked. She felt his forehead. It was practically on fire.

Suddenly he began shaking uncontrollably as if he was having some kind of seizure.

"SOMEBODY HELP!"


	3. Rebirth

3. ================================ REBIRTH ===============================

Light.

Just Light. No ground, no walls, no smells, no sounds. Just Light. That's where he was, if that could even be called a place. He was floating, weightless, free.

Everything was so warm and welcoming. A comfort that he had never felt before had taken hold of him. Although there was light all around him, somehow he knew where the source was. In front of him, the light almost seemed to bend and shape it's self. Curving it's self into a vaguely visible shape. Like a door.

_What's that?_

Albus felt himself moving towards it.

A echo in his ear said suddenly. _"Come on Albus! Wake up!"_ It sounded like Scorpius, only deeper. Maybe his father…

It didn't matter. He was still drifting closer to the source. It looked almost like a door only it wasn't. A hole in the outer membrane, exposing the even more light filled nucleus. As he came closer, everything only seemed to get more beautiful.

"_Temperature 119 and rising!" _Another voice echoed. He didn't recognize it.

"_If he gets any hotter he's going to combust!"_

He wasn't hot. Perfectly warm. Like waking up in the most comfortable bed in the world after the most exquisite dream you've ever had. Waking up next to the person you love the most and find them just as comfortable as you are.

He was almost close enough now. Close enough to touch the source. He reached his arm out but as he did, a strange ringing noise entered his ears.

"_NO! Come on Albus! Hit him! 250!"_ Scorpius or maybe Draco's voice said. Why did they want to hit him?

_Never mind. They can hit me if they like. Whatever makes them happy. _

Albus could feel it. A wonderful soothing feeling entered the tips of his fingers as he continued to reach for source. How had he never noticed how beautiful everything was?

"_He's still flat-line!"_

"_Hit him again! 300!"_

_Whats a flat-line? Maybe this thing is the flat-line. This place. Am I dead?_

"_HIT HIM AGAIN!"_

He was so close now. Just a few seconds more and he to actually touch it. Be a part of it. Experience whatever this wonderful light was.

"_AGAIN! DO IT!"_

_Am I welcome? Can I stay here? Who are you?_

The odd ringing noise went away. Then there was only silence.

Albus reached and felt the source.

======== ST. MUNGO'S HOSPITAL - LONDON - UK - SEPTEMBER 19TH - 2020 A.D. ========

Draco had sweat dripping of his forehead. His eyes were closed tightly and he was breathing heavily. He sighed.

He had failed.

"We did all we could." His voice was shaking. He looked up at the other Healers and Medi-witches in the room. They were all wearing their standard lime-green uniforms and holding their wands while looking as ashamed as Draco did.

They had attempted to shock Albus back to life - but failed.

Everywhere there were empty potion bottles and various Magical medical instruments, messily thrown about the place.

"Time of death. 17:02. 19th of September…" He said looking at his watch. "This is gonna destroy Harry." He said under his breath.

He had never liked the man. Hated him for most of his early years. And yet, after realizing how mistaken he had been to follow the Dark Lord he had at least gained a measure of respect for the 'Chosen One'. They weren't friends but he would never wish this on him, not in a thousand years.

If it had been Scorpius… No! Don't even think that! Never think that! He told himself. Oh God! He'll be devastated! He knew his son was friend with Albus. Scorpius had admitted as much to him with absolutely no shame. Then he had been seriously injured trying to protect him.

Astoria had managed to calm down and comfort him Draco he was boarder line insane with worry. The only message he had gotten was that his son was badly injured and on his way. He had almost lost his mind at that point.

Thank god she had decided to make one of her unscheduled stops at St. Mungo's before carrying on to King's Cross. As soon as he knew Scorpius was going to be alright, Draco had though long and hard about what had happened.

He had been hit with the same curse, but when he was hit, he had actually been trying to attack, maybe even kill Harry. Scorpius had almost died defending a Potter, not attacking one. It had made him realize just how wrong he had been in his youth. Scorpius was an example that he now needed to live up to. He needed to act more like his son. And he had done his very best to make him proud.

Now his son would hate him. He had failed to save Albus. His best friend. Scorpius would never forgive him for this.

_BEEP!_

Draco's heart skipped a beat. Every single eye in the room turned to the floating sphere of light above Albus's chest. A single red light had appeared in the center.

_BEEP! … BEEP! … BEEP! … BEEP! …_

The tiny red light pulsated every time there was a _BEEP!_

"That's impossible!" One of the Medi-witches breathed.

Draco moved forwards and checked the pulse on Albus's neck. He could feel it. The low, rhythmic thud of a human heart beat.

"I don't believe it!" He gasped.

"Temperature is dropping. 110...109..." A Medi-witch informed him with an excited smile.

"Pulse is holding steady at 160 over 90." Another witch said. "What just happened?" She begged.

Draco's eyes were firmly locked on Albus who looked as if he was simply sleeping peacefully.

"A miracle…" A healer said.

"No…" Draco breathed. His world had come crashing back down again as his healer training kicked in. "Would have been better if he'd died…"

SATU MARE - NEAR THE HUNGARIAN BOARDER - ROMANIA - SEPTEMBER 19TH 2020 A.D.

Jack Daggra was thrown through the air and hit ground with a Thud! He was on his feet in seconds, an extended metal Baton gripped tightly in his hand. The light from the full moon was enough to give them the visibility they needed.

"Bad Dog!" He scathed and fired. The metal cable shot out and hooked the large grey werewolf's left arm. Thousands of volts of electricity shot through the cable and into the beast, enraging it further.

It clawed the cable to shreds and charged at Jack.

Suddenly a second cable slammed into the wolf's side, grounding it and causing it to writhe around as more electric shocks hit it. It growled and began trying to get up.

Jack fired again hitting it in the leg with another cable. The double dose of electro shock treatment kept the wild animal on the ground as Sean Daggra grabbed a cannon like weapon, loaded with what looked like a large metal harpoon.

"What are you waiting for! Shot it!" Jack yelled to his brother.

Sean took aim and fired. The Harpoon shot out and unfolded in mid air, becoming a giant net. The net latched it's self around the wolf and began squeezing it into a ball.

Jack detached his cable, cessing the voltage while his brother reloaded the net launcher. He aimed and fired again, doubling up on the net. The wolf was going made trying to claw and bite it's way out of the net but could move enough to break free.

"You okay? Did he scratch you?" Sean asked his big brother.

"No. Hit's like a sledgehammer though!" He laughed clutching his ribs.

"Alright. Get the Sample, I'll cover you." Sean said.

"Fuck that! you get the sample!" Jack shot back watching the wolf continuously to go crazy inside the net.

"Hey, I just netted the damn thing!"

"Yeah and I just got punched! You do it!" Jack ordered.

Sean submitted to his older brother. He threw him the net launcher and pulled out a large metal Syringe from his jacket pocket.

Sean approached the struggling monster quickly. With a heavy stabbing motion, he stuck it an area of exposed fur. The wolf growled but no more than it already was. He pulled the plunger out, extracting a large tube of dark red blood.

He stepped back as the wolf continued to trash.

Jack lowered the net launcher and dug around in his jacket pocket for something. He found it. A small black tube with what looked like a combination lock on the side of it. He started flicking numbers into the tube when both brother suddenly froze.

The sound of rope snapping had grabbed their attention. They looked over at the wolf just in time to see the net rip open and the monster escape. It looked at the to brothers for a second, roared and charged.

Sean ran over to his brother and grabbed a hold of his jacket just as he finished punching the numbers into the tube. Suddenly both brothers disappeared with a flash of silver and blue light.

They hit a hard marble floor at the same time.

"I hate port keys!" Sean said, picking himself up.

"It's the safest way to travel." Jack said, clearly a bit dazed.

The two were standing in a small camber with no furniture, windows or other people inside. The only light came from two over head lamps. On the floor there was a large red circle panted on the floor that stretched from one wall to the other.

They shook the cobwebs from their heads and exited the room into a long corridor. Again there was no furniture, only over head lights leading them down the corridor.

Sounds of activity echoed down the tunnel, coming from the direction that they were heading.

The end of the tunnel led them into an enormous open chamber. Easily the size of the Millennium Dome, instead of over head lamps there were massive spot lights set up in various places, flooding the entire chamber with light.

Inside there were at least fifty other people walking around, talking, seeing to various tasks. Some were pushing crates, other was looking through paperwork, some were deep in conversation with others. There were long tables and worktops set up everywhere with both muggle and wizarding instruments on them.

In the very centre of the chamber (about 200 yards away) was a huge statue facing the other way, with a hand raised to the sky.

The whole place was a massive Temple.

The Daggra brothers walked past the worktops and into another corridor. This one wasn't half the size of the last and quickly came out in a huge Laboratory. It was kitted out with the very latest Muggle and Wizarding instruments and apparatus.

Computers, alchemy stations, cauldrons, Electron microscopes, refrigerators, there was even an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) Machine. Along the wall were shelves with more potions on them than the Hogwarts store cupboard. Beneath the shelves were smaller fridges with dozens of different kinds of muggle drugs inside. The entire back wall was full of small glass cages, the size of dog kennels. On a desk in the centre of the Lab was are large, empty metal cage.

"Any luck?" A large black man in a lab technicians coat asked.

"Yeah, we found your puppy." Sean handed him the syringe.

"Honestly Mathis, why couldn't you just take a sample from a werewolf in the daytime? He wasn't very accommodating you know." Jack said rubbing his ribs.

"Do you have a degree in Genetics?" Mathis asked.

Both brothers shook their heads.

"Well then I'm afraid you won't understand." He said simply while looking carefully at the sample.

With a flick of his wand, he transfused a few drops of the blood onto the sample stole of the Electron microscope. After pushing a few buttons and tweaking some controls he brought up the information on the computer screen next to him.

It might as well have been in Parseltounge to the Daggra Brothers. They had no idea what they were looking at but Mathis seemed engrossed.

"Hmm…"

"What? Good or bad?" Sean asked.

"Not sure…only one way to find out." Mathis said standing. He grabbed the sample and walked over to one of the cauldrons. A strange purple liquid was swirling around inside it with steam coming off the surface.

He flicked his wand and a few drops of werewolf blood fell into the cauldron. There was no reaction was so ever. It didn't even change the colour.

He grabbed a fresh syringe and extracted a small sample of the liquid.

"Err…grab number 4 would you Sean." Mathis said pointing towards the cages.

Sean walked over and opened cage Number 4. Inside was a common garden rat, that he picked up gently and brought it over to Mathis.

"Where'd you want him?"

Mathis turned and injected the rat carefully with the syringe.

"She…can go inside the cage." He pointed to the large metal cage sitting on the desk.

Sean placed the rat in the cage and locked the door. All three of them stood back for a second and watched in silence. Mathis was checking his watch every few seconds.

Nothing was happening. The rat simply scurried around the cage trying to find a way out. The Daggra Brothers didn't look impressed.

After thirty seconds of nothing the rat suddenly started convulsing violently. It writhed around on the floor of the cage then stopped moving altogether.

"Shit!" Mathis sighed. "Test number 144, died after 53 seconds of exposure. Serum batch number 42, ineffective." He said as he filled out some paperwork on a clipboard.

"I wouldn't say that!" Jack said.

The rat was moving again.

They moved closer to see what was happening. The rat was twitching around on the floor and if being poked by an invisible stick. Suddenly it's bone structure began to increase in size, followed by it's muscles and then fur. It's fur turned grey, eyes went red and quickly began making or horrible screeching sound every time it's moth opened. Like nails on a chalkboard.

"What the fuck!?" Sean blurted.

The rat came alive with the same rage as the werewolf. It was now the size of a small dog and began slamming it's self against the sides of the cage. It latched it's hyper-extended teeth around the cage bars and began to bite.

The their horror, the mutant rat was actually biting it's way through the cage bars.

"Shit!" Jack pulled his baton, extended it and aimed at the rat. "Avada Kedavra!"

The green bolt of light hit the rat square in the head. For a second it stopped moving, then began convulsing and then began growing again. It was now the size of a Golden Retriever and started to work it's way through the cage again.

"Holy Shit!" Mathis breathed in amazement.

Sean darted from the room while Jack and Mathis looked on is shock. "Err, Doc what do we do?!"

"I don't know!" The monster rat managed to smash it's head through the bars of the cage and was snapping like crazy at the two men.

Jack grabbed Mathis and started to head towards the door just as Sean returned with a heavy 12-gauge pump shotgun in hit hand. He took aim at the Monster Rats head and fired. The Rats head exploded into chunks of red flesh and bone, splattering across the desk.

He kept the gun on the creature for another ten seconds until he was sure that it was dead.

"Well…that was different." Jack giggled.

"Astounding. You see the way it reacted with you hit it with the killing curse?!" Mathis breathed, still in awe.

"Yeah, it acted like it was miracle grow!"

Mathis walked over and grabbed the clipboard he was writing on. He scrubbed out the information he had put down and began writing again. "Serum batch 42, caused massive mutation in the test subject. Reaction to the killing curse was hyperactive! I'm going to have to take this one back to the drawing board but…I think we're defiantly making progress!" He said excitedly.

"Progress?! You call that Progress?!" Jack exclaimed.

"You have no idea! Imagine an immunity to the killing curse! This is huge!" Mathis smiled.

======== ST. MUNGO'S HOSPITAL - LONDON - UK - SEPTEMBER 19TH - 2020 A.D. ========

Draco pulled of his gloves, rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was going to be nasty.

He stepped out of the Emergency Room and into the corridor. Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Bill and Fleur were waiting. The rest of the Weasley/Potter clan was probably on the way already.

Draco hated this part of the job. Ginny was the hardest to look at. Her eyes were swollen and red from the tears she had already been shedding. Hermione was even worse. But she wasn't his mother. Her face was pleading for him to tell her that Albus was going to be just fine. But he couldn't do that…it would be a lie.

"He's stable. His temperature has dropped, pulse is within norms." Draco forced.

Harry immediately hugged his wife and she began sobbing tears of joy into his chest. Harry, who was also teary eyed turned to Draco.

"Thank you! Thank you!" He breathed.

"Harry…" Draco started but was cut off by several other Weasley/Potters entering the corridor.

Rose, Lily, James, Hugo, Teddy, Victoire, Fred, Percy, George, Angelina and Audrey came hurrying towards them. Just behind them Draco spotted his son, white as a sheet and walking cautiously. Just behind him, Alexander Tannis and Aurora Dawn Lennox appeared.

Draco steeled himself. "Harry, there's more." He said quickly.

"What do mean?"

Ron and Hermione hushed all the arriving family members so that they could hear.

"You might want to sit down." Draco said. Standard procedure when giving bad news.

Everyone's faces became horribly shocked and pale. Scorpius looked like he simply didn't want to hear what his father was about to say. Draco prayed that his son didn't hate him for not being able to do more.

"We're still not sure what caused Albus to suddenly fall ill but, during out attempts to bring his temperature down…his heart failed, we don't know why. We did our best to resuscitate him but we simply could get him back. Then, somehow, his heart just started back up again. His temperature dropped and his pulse became normal…"

Everyone except Hermione was looking confused. She on the other hand had never looked so sad and terrified in her life.

"However, his heart stopped beating for over 8 minutes…which means his brain wasn't receiving oxygen. After 4 minutes of oxygen cut-off, serious brain damage occurs. He was staved for over 7."

The information hit the family like a tone of bricks.

"The chances of him ever regaining consciousness are almost non-existent. And if he ever does…there will be extensive and irreparable damage." Draco couldn't bare to look at them anymore. The floor was far more forgiving. "I'm sorry."

"But! There has to be something you can do!" Fred blurted.

"Somethings…even magic can't fix…I'm very sorry."

Most of them were simply too shocked to actually breakdown and cry. It would come eventually though. It always did.

It was James who seemed to be trying to stay strong for the rest of the family. He was the only one that actually had tears welling up in his eyes. His voice was horse and shaky but nevertheless determined.

"When can I see my brother?"

"We need to run some tests to try and find out the extent of the damage. Once their done, we'll move him into the observation ward. I'll have someone inform you as soon as it's possible." Draco said quickly.

He didn't want to be here anymore. "Again, I'm very sorry." Those were some words that he never thought he would hear himself say to the Potters. Especially since he meant them. He really did. He would do anything to be able to tell them that their son was going to be just fine.

But that's not how it works.

Draco looked once more at his son. There was no blame in his eyes or anger. Just sorrow.

That hurt even more.

Draco left the family and re-entered the ER.

Scorpius's mind was a blank. He didn't know what to do. They had only been friends for the better part of a year but the thought of going back to Hogwarts without him was something that had never even entered his mind.

He saw Rose. His Rose, weeping into her fathers chest. He should be the one holding her. But he wasn't. He couldn't move.

Then something else caught his eye. Something that suddenly gave his mind new life. He saw Aurora and Tannis whispering to each other. They were talking in the same informal manner that he had overheard before.

Aurora said something and Tannis nodded. The headmaster then left the scene quite quickly, leaving Aurora alone. She seemed to be deep in thought. One thing she wasn't, was sad. In fact, she didn't seem the slightest bit concerned.

Everyone else was ignoring her presence and simply drowning in their own depression. She wasn't. Why?

Scorpius was blasted with a wave of determination. He walked over to her, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her around the corner, away from the grieving family.

"Alright! You are going to explain this to me right now!" He growled. Under normal circumstances he doubted that he would have the guts to do something like this, but Albus was his best friend. He wanted answers.

"Explain what?"

"Don't bullshit me! You care about Albus way more than you let on! Why aren't you upset?!" Scorpius demanded.

"You know I can't tell you -"

"Fuck the Vow! I told you I would bit my tongue until you had a chance to explain and under the circumstances I think I have been very fucking patient! But now it's time for you to tell me what the hell is going on!" He hissed, trying not to raise his voice to much.

Aurora could see the concern behind his anger. He had almost died to protected Albus. He had a right to know. She searched for a way to explain it to him but there simply were no loopholes that they hadn't already exploited.

"Look, give me a day…One day so I can get the Vow taken off. Then I promise I will explain everything!" She pleaded.

"One day?" Scorpius repeated. He really didn't have much of an option but it was better than nothing.

"One day! Then I'll tell you everything."

She was either the greatest liar in the world or she was telling the truth. "Alright." Scorpius breathed. "One day, but if you don't! I'll tell Harry every single detail of your little conversation with Tannis! Understood?"

She could see Scorpius meant business and she wasn't going to challenge that. "Yes. Thank you." She breathed.

Scorpius began to storm away. He stopped and turned. "Aurora…" She looked up at him and they locked eyes. "Your more powerful, more skilled, probably smarter than me…but if you do anything to endanger my best friends life, I swear to God I will find a way to kill you." That wasn't a lie.

She shocked and angered for a second. The fact the he would even suggest it was enough to hurt her. She could never do that to Albus. "Mal…I would never do anything to hurt him. I…I…Trust me when I tell you that he is going to be alright!" She begged, tears forming in her eyes.

For some reason he did. He still trusted her, even after everything.

One day…he could wait that long.


	4. Maturity

4. =============================== MATURITY ===============================

======== ST. MUNGO'S HOSPITAL - LONDON - UK - SEPTEMBER 20TH - 2020 A.D. ========

Over the next 20 hours, St. Mungo's had become a hotel for the Weasley/Potter family and their friends. Everyone had come and gone, come and gone, like they were simply changing shifts. Rose, Scorpius, Harry, Ginny, Hermione and James were the only ones that had stayed throughout.

Molly and Arthur Weasley had arrived and done their best to comfort Harry and Ginny. Charlie had even managed to arrange an emergency port-key and come to visit. Teddy had come and gone twice along with Fred, Bill, Fleur and even Andromeda Tonks. She knew to well how hard it was to lose a child and although no one was saying it. They had believed they had lost Albus.

Professor Longbottom had arrived with Hagrid and the Finnigans. Seamus was an old friend of Harry from the DA. He and his Muggle wife Alisha had come by with Violet and Ryan. Violet was a mess when she arrived. News had spread pretty quickly around Hogwarts and anyone that counted Albus as a friend was trying to come to the hospital.

Albus's tests results weren't good. His scans had revealed very little neural activity inside his skull. Very normal for some one that's brain dead.

He had been moved into a private observation room. Everyone had been to visit him at some point. They had held his hand and whispered in his ear in the hope that he might somehow hear them talking and wake up.

He didn't though.

He didn't even twitch. Victims of severe brain trauma sometimes flinch or have muscle spasms. Albus hadn't moved a millimeter since he had been brought in.

Draco had talked Harry and Ginny through Albus's continued treatment. He would be given special potions to keep his bones healthy and stop his muscles from atropine. He would have to be fed intravenously and have numerous more tests and scans. But it was pretty clear that Albus wasn't going to be leaving the hospital anytime soon.

Scorpius's mother had visit and tried her best to comfort her son. He had made it clear that he was going to stay for as long as possible. She hadn't argued, instead she had given him some money for food and drink, hugged him and told him how proud of him she was. His father had actually done the same. It had given Scorpius hope.

He didn't really need it though. He completely trusted what Aurora had said and was sure that Albus would make a full recovery. He had to. He would wake up and be as good as new, like it never happened.

He did believe it. But there was always doubt.

Scorpius had found himself wondering around the hospital several times in an effort to keep busy. He had read the same Witch Weekly and Quidditch Times magazines over about three times now. He had even managed to find a route up onto the roof where he surveyed the London skyline.

None of it really helped. The one person he wanted to be with right now was Rose. But he couldn't. There were way too many Potters and Weasley's around for that.

He made his way down to the cafeteria for yet another cup of coffee.

When he arrived he found that Ron Weasley had returned and was sitting with his wife and son. Hermione, like Scorpius, hadn't slept since Albus had collapsed and was barely able to keep her eyes open. James was sitting with them looking solemn, playing with an empty coffee cup.

"Hey, where's Rose?" Scorpius asked.

"Your dad let me take her to one of the empty rooms so she could get some sleep." Ron said.

Since the whole ordeal began, old rivalries had been put to rest and everyone was united in staying strong for Albus.

"Oh." Scorpius couldn't think of anything else to say. He knew this was his best chance to see her.

Ginny and Harry walked into the café. They looked exhausted but were both way too stubborn to sleep. Harry slumped down next to Hermione while Ginny picked up the latest edition of the Daily Prophet.

"No Gin don't -" Ron was slow. She had already looked at the front page.

The headline read: _A DAY OF MOURNING. _

The press had been banned from St. Mungo's but that would never stop them from getting information.

Ginny's face was blank and pale as she continued to read.

_The Wizarding world is in a state of shock today as unconfirmed reports have flooded in, that Albus Severus Potter, second son of the boy-who-lived, is dead! _

_He apparently fell ill yesterday afternoon at Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry and was immediately taken to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical maladies and injuries, where healers were unfortunately unable to stop his condition from worsening._

_Although unconfirmed, this paper can exclusively report that Albus never re-gained consciousness and was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. It is still unknown what caused Albus to fall ill in the first place but many speculate that it was his exposure to Dark Magic at the hands of deranged mad-man Ian Lithgo._

_Albus was forced to endure heavy amounts of the 'Dream Ripper' curse which may have caused irreversible damage to his physical and mental state, during his third year. Ian Lithgo, the Muggle studies teacher at the time, was killed during an attempted attack on Albus on board the Hogwarts Express earlier this year when he fell from the moving train._

_However several eye-witness accounts claim that Lithgo survived the fall and later dueled with Albus outside the train. Lithgo was killed by extreme trauma to his neck, when an unknown object punctured his Carotid Artery._

_Rumors were already circulating that, after these horrific events, Albus was undergoing regular counseling sessions in secret after he returned to Hogwarts but was making no progress. It is also rumor that he may have fallen ill during one of these sessions…_

"Dead…" The word escaped Ginny's lips.

"I'll talk to them. Make them correct their information." Hermione reassured.

"But he was dead…" Scorpius said quietly causing all eyes to shot him evil looks. "He was dead for 8 minutes. He just didn't stay that way." Scorpius dipped his head, not wanting to look at them.

"How did they find out so quickly?" Ginny breathed.

"They pay the doctors for information." Scorpius added. "And they pay well…few of them have been trying to talk to dad…"

"We're gonna get more security set up around the hospital. Those vultures won't stop though. Your going to have to make a statement eventually Harry." Ron said sadly.

"I will…but not yet. I n-need to stay here…" His voice was barely audible.

After a few seconds of silence Hugo spoke.

"Dad, can I get a drink?" He asked.

"Sure." Ron said yawning.

"I don't have any money. Can I get it on your wand?" He asked.

"Alright, be quick." Ron said handing Hugo his wand.

Paying by wand was the wizarding equivalent of a Muggle credit card. The price of whatever item is billed directly to your Gringotts vault. Another clever idea, thought up by the future Minister and mother of Scorpius's obsessive infatuation. Hermione had even thought up several ways to stop counterfeiting wand payments which the Goblins decided to pass off as their own ideas.

"I'm gonna go for another walk." Scorpius said quietly and disappeared. Now all he needed to do was find out where they had let her rest.

But after 20 minutes of searching he was forced to admit defeat and actually ask a nurse. Rose had actually been moved into one of the staff rooms where healers would often try and get an hour or two of sleep before coming back on duty. He found the room quickly and very quietly entered.

Inside there were a few lockers, a couch and a single bed resting against the wall.

She looked so peaceful. Her puffy eyes and red face had faded and now she simply looked like a sleeping angel. He walked over and began gentle stroking her beautiful red locks away from her face. As his fingers touched her skin, she moved and almost purred, like a cat being stroked.

Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled.

"Hey." She breathed.

"Hey sleeping beauty." Scorpius smiled back.

"How long have I been asleep?" She asked. She didn't seem to want to move.

"About an hour I think. I could leave if you want -." He said quickly.

"No, you stay." She said gently taking his hand. She began to sit up while rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Sorry, I haven't been able to talk to you…my family -"

Scorpius cut her off ."Don't be silly, they need you."

She looked down at the floor. Scorpius knew that her mind had turned back to Albus. Fear and sadness were creeping into her heart again. He didn't want her to cry. He trusted Aurora and believed that Albus was going to be alright.

"Hey, he's gonna be fine." He reassured her while moving in to hug. He hugged him back, much more tightly than usual.

"He's…he can't…" She tried to speak but Scorpius again cut her off.

"Hey, we both know how tough Albus is. He'll come through this! I know it."

"You can't possibly know that." Her voice trembled.

"I can feel it. I don't know how…I just…" He hugged her even tighter and began planting soft kisses on her neck.

For a second it seemed like Rose was going o break down and cry again but instead she suddenly grabbed his face kissed him. The force of the kiss caused him to back up and hit the wall behind him. She never kissed him like this before. She was forcing her tongue right into the back of his throat.

They broke apart simply because of lack of oxygen but the moment they did she began kissing, sucking and even biting his neck.

"Touch me." She breathed in his ear. Scorpius was taken back. Rose had never been shy about kissing Scorpius (In private) but she was never so full on.

Before he could respond she had grabbed his hand and pushed it between her legs. She moaned with pleasure the moment his fingers touched her crouch and again forced her tongue inside his mouth.

Scorpius wasn't sure why, but this didn't feel right. He broke away from her and move his hand.

"Rose wait…" He panted. "We're in a hospital!"

"Exactly." She moved close to him again. "Life's too short." And then she was latched around him again.

Without hesitating she again moved his hand down, this time forcing it to slip inside her trousers. He could feel how wet she was the moment his hand was down there and she again began to moan with ecstasy. She began pulling him towards the bed but made sure his hand was still firmly locked were it was.

Scorpius knew what was coming next. She moved her hand down and began pulling at his belt.

Alarm bells were ringing in his ears. He wasn't ready for this. But he never had the chance to stop.

The door burst open.

Scorpius and Rose were frozen is complete horrified panic.

Ron Weasley was standing in the door way with the same look as them plastered on his face, except that his was very quickly turning to anger. Scorpius yanked his hand out of her trousers.

"Hi Daddy…" Rose voice echoed her fear even though she tried to sound innocent.

"Hi Mr. Weasley." Scorpius yelped. His voice broke as he did.

For second Ron simply stared at them, his face becoming redder and redder.

"You two stay right here." He said coldly and walked away.

Scorpius and Rose were still frozen on the spot.

"Mal…" Rose squeaked.

"Yeah?"

"Run!"

"Oh shit!" Scorpius didn't need to be told twice. He knew Ron was heading back to the café to retrieve his wand from his son. Scorpius bolted from the room, his Slytherin senses telling him to save him self.

Oh god! What have I done?! You violated his little girl and now he is going destroy you! He's an auror! He can just plant evidence and make it look like an accident! I'm fucked!

Scorpius sped down the corridor to a small desk where a few healers had gathers, looking over some charts. He wouldn't start firing off curses in the middle of a hospital, especially around a bunch of healers…would he?

Scorpius tried to compose himself and act natural has he walked up and leaned on the deck.

"Hi, I was looking for Albus Potters room, I've gotten turned around and -" His sentence was cut off by a gulp as he saw Ron walk around the corner. He had his wand in his hand and rage in his eyes.

He didn't say a word, he just kept walking and began to raise his want.

"Is he gonna shoot you?" One of the healers asked automatically.

"Nah…" Scorpius said just as a wave of red light erupted from Ron's wand.

The spell struck the desk, blasting it apart. Scorpius took of running again.

"Help! He's insane!" Scorpius squealed while running.

"AUROR WEASLEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING?!" A healer yelled. Ron ignored everything but a possible firing solution on Scorpius Malfoy.

Scorpius bolted at top speed down another corridor, dodging patients and healers.

"SOMEBODY CALL THE AUROR'S!" Scorpius screamed.

"I AM AN AUROR MALFOY!" Ron yelled from behind him just as he fired again.

Scorpius ducked at the last minute causing the curse to shot by him and hit the wall. Scorpius shot around the corner and ran straight in the none other than Harry Potter.

"MR. POTTER! Please help me! Your mates lost his mind!" Scorpius begged.

"What?" Harry looked up to see Ron, red faced and wand raised, coming around the corner.

"Oh Shit!" Scorpius took off as Ron fired again.

This time Harry had to duck to avoid being hit.

"RON, WHAT THE HELL?!" Harry yelled as Ron, like a crazed machine, continued to chase Scorpius.

"MAKE YOUR PEACE WITH GOD MALFOY!"

"Ron!" Harry grabbed his friend to try and stop him. "Your shooting at a 14 year old kid in the middle of a hospital!" He growled.

"You didn't see…He…Hand…Rosey…" Ron spluttered while trying to move past Harry.

The last time Harry had seen his best friend like this was when he wanted to murder a bunch of death eaters after Fred Weasley was killed.

"Wait! What happened to Rose?" Harry asked frantically.

"He was…touching her!" Ron hissed and shuddered as the image re-entered his mind.

Harry's eyebrows had never climbed so high before. He took a step back and tried to think about the situation. The only words that entered his mind were: "Whoa-okay…"

Ron stormed past him and continued his hunt for the soon to be horrible mangled, baby ferret. Harry began walking behind him. He figured he would at least try and stop Ron from killing Scorpius…he would probably loose a limb of two though.

Scorpius was heading for the elevators. He had to get out of the hospital immediately and then go into hiding. He pressed the button several times and could hear the lift moving up but it was taking it's sweet time. The doors opened, revealing that it was jam packed with visitors and healers. He spotted a tiny glimpse of Aurora in the lift but before he could say a word, another curse shot by him.

"Help!" He yelped before again bolting down the corridor.

Aurora began stepping out of the lift with an extremely confused look on her face just as Ron and Harry stormed past.

"LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE MALFOY! AT LEAST YOUR ALREADY IN A HOSPITAL!" Ron bellowed. "THE HEALERS WILL BE ABLE TO GET TO YOU QUICK!"

Aurora decided that she should probably check this out.

As Scorpius continued to search for a way to escape the cursed hospital of death, he saw Rose and Hermione walk around a corner. Rose had come to save him! Ronald Weasley would never defy his wife and future minister.

Scorpius screeched to a halt next to them.

"Your old man…is a lunatic!" Scorpius panted.

Rose looked pale with fear while Hermione looked like she was about to explode with anger. Luckily she didn't seem all that angry at Scorpius.

Ron and Harry walked around the corner and Scorpius immediately jumped behind the two Weasley women, using them as a shield between him and maniac Auror.

"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY!" Hermione screamed at the top of her voice.

"Honey, let me handle this!" Ron said sweetly as he and Harry continued walking.

"YOU WILL LOWER THAT WAND AT ONCE!" Hermione screamed as Scorpius cowered behind her.

"Daddy please! It was my fault!" Rose added in a much quieter voice.

"Daddy's a little busy sweetheart, we'll talk about this later." Ron was attempting to get a clean shot at Scorpius.

At the same moment James, Hugo and Lily came running around the same corner that Hermione and Rose had appeared from and Aurora came up behind Ron and Harry.

"Hey, he's still alive!" Hugo blurted.

"Told he was fast." Lily whispered.

"Ronald! This is a hospital! How dare you start firing curses in here! Your not even on duty!" Hermione scowled.

"An excellent point!" Scorpius added.

"Shut up Scorpius!" Hermione hissed before turning back to her husband.

"OI!" Everyone turned around to see Draco Malfoy walking up the corridor looking just as angry as Ron.

He walked up and got right in Ron's face. Scorpius looked more relieved than ever before. He stepped out from behind Hermione and Rose to watch his dad stand up for him. A great twinge of pride filled Scorpius's heart.

"You even think about shooting another curse at my son Weasley and I swear I will -"

"You didn't see what your sons hands were doing to my daughter!" Ron hissed back.

Draco was as taken back as Harry was earlier. Draco looked from Ron, to Rose, to Scorpius several times before turning back to Ron.

"Shoot him." Draco said simply.

"What?" Scorpius gulped automatically.

Without hesitating Ron raised his wand and fired. The spell clipped 'The Hand' that had crossed the line leaving a horrible black burn mark on it.

Scorpius yelped and jumped around in pain while James and Hugo tried there very hardest not to laugh there heads off. Rose immediately ran to the aid of her boyfriend.

"RONALD!" Hermione screamed.

"Fine." Ron huffed, putting his wand away. "I want a restringing order! That kid stays at least 50 yards away from my little girl at all times!"

Hermione walked over, grabbed Ron's arm and began yanking him down the corridor. The mixed yells from the both of them about being responsible, Rose and Scorpius's age and something about when they were that age.

"Smooth Malfoy." James giggled.

Scorpius glared at James as Rose took a look at his burnt hand. She turned to Draco wit pleading eyes.

"Please help him…it wasn't his fault, I made him do it!" She sniffed.

"Oh God! Somebody Obliviate me!" Draco breathed before taking a look at his sons hand.

"Healer Malfoy!" A Medi-witch came running up to him. "You have to come!" She panted. She had clearly been looking all over the hospital for him.

"What's happened?"

"It's Mr. Potter, there's been some…changes in his condition." She said sounding slightly panicked.

Harry's face dropped with horror, as did James and Lily's. Scorpius gave Aurora a cautious look. Again she didn't seem all that concerned. More annoyed in fact.

All of them rushed down the corridor to Albus's observation room. By the time they reached the room Ron and Hermione had caught up with them.

As they approached Albus's bedside it was obvious what the Medi-witch had meant by 'Change'

Albus actually had a large amount of stubble on his face. His hair had lengthened and his finger nails had grown about an inch. He was visible taller as well. At least 3 or 4 inches.

Albus was aging at an accelerated rate.

"What the bloody hell…" Ron breathed.

Even Hermione looked completely shocked.

"When was the last time somebody checked on him?" Draco demanded.

"6 hours ago, I was just making my rounds and I found him like this." She squeaked, clearly afraid that she might be blamed for his condition.

"Nobody's checked on him for 6 hours?" Harry scowled.

"It's standard rotation. We do have other patients here you know." Draco hissed back while checking Albus's pulse.

"He's aging!" Hermione breathed in utter shock.

"Yeah…about 18 months by the looks of it…This isn't possible!" Draco sighed. He had no answers. "Take him back down stairs, I want another batch of scans and full blood work!"

The medi-witch nodded and began floating Albus's bed out of the room.

Scorpius shot a look at Aurora. She knew what it meant. The two of them slipped out of the room and around the corner. They found, what looked like an empty store room a few doors down. As soon as they were inside Aurora pulled her wand and cast a Locking Charm followed by 'Silencio'.

They were with the Potter and Weasley families so it was doubtful that they would receive any warnings from the ministry about using under aged magic.

"Okay, explain!" Scorpius demanded.

"Alright, first of all, everything that's happening to Albus is completely normal." She had obviously gotten the Vow removed.

"Normal?! No one has ever heard of anything like this before! He just aged 18 months in 6 hours?! How is that normal?!" Scorpius was confused and worried for his friend. The calm trust that he had been given by Aurora had faded the moment they had seen Albus's 'change'.

"It's normal for him. They all go through this." Aurora sighed.

"Who are They and what is This?!"

"Look, it's like when a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. They go into a cocoon and when they come out they're…different. It's called metamorphosis. This is Albus's cocoon." Scorpius seemed to be getting the gist of it. "They…are Albus's kind. His species."

That one struck him dumb.

"Wait…what are you saying? That Albus isn't human?" He asked carefully.

"Well, Yes and no…he is human, but he's also…more."

Scorpius suddenly caught onto the fact that even Aurora didn't have all the answers.

"We don't know exactly what they are. We call them Anomalies. They're like…the next step up from wizard. That's why he never fit in around his family, it's why he's always felt like he was different. It's why he can't do magic…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well he can't do magic because, really…he doesn't need it. He has his own type of magic. When he wakes up his abilities will have evolved with him and he'll be in complete control of them." She explained.

"What Ability?" Scorpius asked automatically.

"I'm not really sure. He wasn't in control of it then. It only came out when he was emotional."

"I Think Al would have told us if he had some kind of super power!"

"Yeah, unless he was afraid of it! Afraid of what we might think. He was worried that he might hurt one of us." Aurora sighed.

"He wouldn't hurt us!"

"Really? He broke his brothers skull when he blasted him into a wall! He brought down the entire shrieking shack while we were inside it! I don't think he was willing to take the chance!"

Those weird little Pops of light! And the Train! Scorpius couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before. He was barely conscious at the time, but he should have realized that something was odd about what happened on the train. Lithgo had attacked him several times with a steel pipe but Albus wasn't injured until he drove it through his hand.

"So what it is?"

"I don't know. In the shack it was some kind of blast wave but on the train it was more like a shield. His power is unstable at best before he goes through his cycle." She said.

"Cycle?"

"Maturing Cycle. It's what we call it."

"And that's why he's getting older?"

"Yes. His body is developing to house his power and…" Aurora stopped. She seemed to be finding it hard to speak.

"And?"

"And…so that he can…mate." Aurora forced.

"Mate? What do mean mate?" Scorpius was flabbergasted.

"Mate! Procreate! Produce offspring! Make babies!" Aurora hissed through gritted teeth. She clearly didn't like talking about this part.

Scorpius couldn't speak. The pain in his hand from Ron's curse was non-existent now. Suddenly something popped in his head. He looked up at Aurora who seemed to be a little flustered.

"That's why you wouldn't get with him, isn't it…" Scorpius finally understood.

Aurora simply nodded.

She was incredibly mature for her age. She looked older than she was. But she was still only just going to turn 15. There was no way that she was ready for kids.

"I take it that you aren't ready to be a mother then." Scorpius said absently.

For some reason Aurora couldn't look at him. "I wouldn't be the mother…" She whimpered quietly. Her voice was shaky. Scorpius waited for her to explain.

"He'll want to find one of his own kind to mate with…it's in his nature, it's instinct. He'll feel the need to find the strongest partner he can, so that his offspring are more powerful. He won't settle for a human…he…it's not that I never wanted him…" She looked up, there were tears in her eyes. "It's that he won't want me!" This was killing her just to think about.

"I don't think that's true. The way he looks at you. The way he talks about you…it goes way beyond a school boy crush Aurora." Scorpius said gently. "He's in love with -:

"NO! He's not!" She tried to whip the tears away but they just kept coming. It was obvious. She felt the same way about him. She was terrified that if she did give her self to him, he would simply leave her the moment one of his own kind turned up. "I was never suppose to be friends with him! I wasn't suppose to have feelings for him!" She hated her heart at that moment. "I was just suppose to watch him! To protect him! It wasn't suppose to be like this! He'll forget me the moment a…"

She sobs into her hands. Scorpius put his arms around her and held her tightly. "He'll never forget you." He whispered in her ear.

"He'll leave me…he'll go off looking for one of them…" She whimpered, breaking away from Scorpius's hug.

"How many of…them, are there?" He asked.

"Not many. They just pop up! It random." She breathed. "The Cleric's get most of them."

"Who?"

"It's just what we call them. They don't actually have a name…they hunt down Anomalies like Albus and kill them." He voice broke and more tears fell from her eyes. "That's why you've never heard about them before, because they're all dead! And now they are coming for Albus!"

"That's what you've been protecting him from. You've been trying to keep him hidden. From them." Scorpius said darkly.

Aurora nodded.

"I was the only one that could watch him all the time. Tannis made sure that I got excepted at Hogwarts. We altered some information. I couldn't lie about who I was or I wouldn't have been able to get my Hogwarts letter. I was only able to change my age…" She said quietly.

Scorpius was shocked. "Your age?! How old are you?"

"On November 5th I'm...seventeen." She admitted.

"Huh…" Scorpius seemed to be buckling under the weight of all this new information. He had invented dozens of sceneries that explained what he had overheard between her and Tannis. But he wasn't even close.

"I think you better explain this from the beginning Aurora." Scorpius breathed.

Aurora nodded.

Albus was going to need as much support as possible soon. And he would get a lot more of it if his best friends had all the information. Scorpius would no doubt, inform Rose at some point. And Albus wasn't exactly going to be inconspicuous from now on.


	5. All Grown Up

5. ============================ ALL GROWN UP =============================

======== ST. MUNGO'S HOSPITAL - LONDON - UK - SEPTEMBER 20TH - 2020 A.D. =========

Scorpius and Aurora had decided to leave the store cupboard. They had found Rose and Hermione (Who was still not very happy with Ron) waiting for the scan results to come back. Scorpius had been acting like a zombie. He was still trying to process all the information that Aurora had laid on him.

They had both silently agreed that Rose shouldn't be kept in the dark and after making up an excuse that involved going for a walk, they managed to find there way to an empty part of the café.

It hadn't taken Rose very long to figure out that something wasn't right about the way Scorpius and Aurora were acting. Aurora had clearly been crying.

The three of them were now sitting at a table in the corner, well out of ear shot from anyone one else.

"Something tells me that this is about Albus…" Rose sounded worried.

"You could say that…" Scorpius blurted absently.

"Just try to keep an open mind Rose."

Aurora then spelled out some of the information that she had admitted to Scorpius in the store room. She left out the parts about Albus's need to reproduce and especially the parts where she actually had strong feelings for him. Rose's jaw went lower and lower as the information came to her. She had been particularly shocked at the announcement that Aurora was in fact 2 years older than all of them.

After a few minutes she had the same mortified look on her face that Scorpius was sporting.

"That simply isn't possible! That kind of magic…There's no way…it couldn't possibly…it's impossible!" Rose huffed.

"Really? And what kind of magic do you think it was that Lily Potter used to protect Harry after Voldemort's attack? What kind of magic do you think creates life-debts between wizards?" Aurora asked knowing that Rose didn't have an answer.

"But…no…this…no…I mean, it's possible that…but…no…I…" Rose made several attempts at an actually sentence but failed every time.

"Everything in the universe evolves Rose. It gets stronger, smarter, better, over time, over thousands of years. What makes you think magic doesn't follow the same course? Humans have always had the amazing gift of being able to adapt to pretty much anything. Some have started to adapt, not just use, but adapt to magic. To these Anomalies, it's not just a tool or an element. It's a part of there being..." Aurora smiled. She knew Rose would eventually come to understand.

"How do you know all of this?" Rose breathed.

"I learnt." Aurora said simply.

"No, I mean about Albus!"

Aurora took a breath. "About 11 years ago, Your family went to a Quidditch game. The last game your Aunt was playing because she had just found out that she was pregnant with Lily."

Rose was already confused as to where this was going.

"Well, a friend of mine was at that game. This also happens to be the man that was following Albus around last year." Rose was about to say something but Aurora continued before she could. "He was keeping an eye on your cousin. Makin' sure he was safe. His names Lincoln…he's a Anomaly, like Albus. And Anomalies have a talent for being able to smell there own kind from quite a long way away. He knew immediately what Albus was."

Rose and Scorpius were captivated.

"We knew that Albus would be targeted. You see, the Clerics, the reason they do what they do, the reason they hunt down and kill people like Albus is because they think that one day an Anomaly will…somehow…bring about the end of the world… There's a prophecy."

That word hit Rose and Scorpius like a freight train. "What is it with Potters and Prophecies…" Scorpius blurted without thinking. Rose 'Shh'ed' him waited for Aurora to explain the prophecy.

"No one knows what it says. No ones ever seen it, but we have been able to pick up little bits of information here and there. From what we have managed to find out, we know there isn't a copy of it in the Department of Mysteries. Simply because, the prophecy was made before the ministry even existed. It was made before Hogwarts existed. It's over a thousand years old. We're not sure how old exactly. We also know it refers to some one that is more than human, more than magic." Aurora took a breath. Her voice was intense. She meant every word of what she was saying.

"You have to understand. These people have been killing Anomalies for hundreds of years and they are damn good at what they do! They're not like Death Eaters. I don't give a shit about blood purity. Wizards, witches, Muggles, it doesn't matter to them. Anomalies are the only ones they care about! And very soon, they will be coming after Albus." She said gravely.

Rose gave a shudder at the thought.

"There's a lot of protection around here at the moment, so I doubt they will try anything while he is here. They like to stay in the shadows. That's why you've never heard of them before. But eventually they will come after him. So to make sure that Albus would be protected, we came up with a plan…I would be sent into Hogwarts at the same time as Albus. Tannis helped my friends alter some of my information and got me my letter. And since the day I arrived, I've been watching over him."

It was clear that Aurora hated the fact that she had been lying to her friends for so long. Rose and Scorpius were still too stunned to speak.

"By now they will have found out that Albus has been admitted here because of a strange illness. That's all the proof they need. Albus needs protecting." She warned.

Aurora was actually very surprised to see that Rose was glaring at her and turning red.

"So you've been lying to us from minute one!" She hissed.

"I didn't want to lie to you. It was necessary." Aurora pleaded.

"Necessary! He's my cousin! I love him! You should have told us! YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD HIM!" Rose screamed causing a few other people in the café to turn and look over.

Rose subdued her self and tried to keep her voice levels under control. "He almost died!" She hissed.

"He had just been attacked by a psychopathic teacher Rose! I thought I would give him some time to actually relax before I dropped this bloody bomb shell on him!" Aurora growled back.

These two ladies weren't known for keeping calm when they were angry. Scorpius wanted to try and calm them down but was still sat quietly thinking about everything he had been told.

"He's my cousin! I've had to watch you play with his emotions all fucking year and now you do this!" Rose looked ready to punch Aurora.

"He was born like this! I didn't do this to him! I tried to make it obvious that we couldn't get together! He's an idiot!" Aurora looked ready to punch her right back.

"Eerr ladies -" Scorpius attempted but was completely ignored.

"He's head over heels for you! You could have been a bit more gentle with him!"

"I saved his fucking life! What do you call that!"

The two volcanic women were ready to start dueling in the middle of the café.

"Girls!" Scorpius tried not to shout. They turned their evil looks at him. "Perhaps you should tell us what happens now Aurora." He also tried to hide the fact that he was very scared at that moment in time.

The logical side of Rose's brain took over. She did want to know what came next for her cousin.

"He'll wake up in 2 maybe 3 weeks. When he does, his body will have aged about 5 years. His powers will be fully developed and he'll act…different."

"What's different?" Rose asked immediately, still glaring.

"Look, these people have a highly evolved since of instinct. He's going to want to establish him self as the dominate male in the area. He might be a little…aggressive." Aurora said sheepishly.

Rose looked like she had just been insulted.

"It'll fade, after he gets use to it…but, it's probably not a good idea to annoy him. And we defiantly need to keep Teddy, Victoire and Fleur away from him. He might be a little confrontational around them." Aurora warned.

"Why?"

"Victoire and Fleur are part Veela and Teddy is a Metamorphagus with a bit of werewolf in him. Albus will see them as more than human and there for his biggest competition." Aurora sighed. "He's not exactly going to be friendly around them."

Rose and Scorpius took a few seconds to assimilate this new info.

"So this power of his…what is it, what can he do?" Rose asked.

"I told you, I don't know! Its different for each of them. Lincoln can phase-shift." Aurora sighed.

"Phase-shift?"

"Turn Ethereal at will. Things just go straight through him. It's the only reason he's survived so many encounters with them. He's number one of there hit list. Well, maybe second." Aurora said absently.

"Who's first?" Scorpius asked.

Aurora hesitated. "Look, I'm not allowed to talk about her."

"Too late! You've been lying to us for way too long Aurora! I want the truth!" Rose hissed, her temper flaring again. "Who is she and what can she do?"

Again Aurora hesitated. She licked her lips while trying to decide whether or not to actually tell them. She sighed. "Your probably going to meet her eventually so I suppose it doesn't matter…her names Sophia. And it's more what she doesn't do…she doesn't age."

"You mean she's immortal?!" Scorpius blurted.

"No, she can still get hurt, still get killed, but her body just doesn't age."

"How old is she?" Rose breathed in shock.

"Two thousand, two hundred and forty one and she doesn't look a day over twenty."

Scorpius went back to looking like he had just been hit over the head with a frying pan. Rose seemed to have her brain working over time to accommodate all the information. But at the same time she was going pale. It was obvious. The more she thought about it, the more worried she became.

Aurora picked up on it and reached her hand over the table to take Rose's.

"He's going to be alright. We're going to take care of him." She assured.

Rose pulled her hand away. She wasn't convinced. "How can you say that! You told us that these Cleric's have all but whipped out people like Albus!"

"Look I'm not going to lie and say that they aren't dangerous. Nobody even knows they exist! They're imbedded everywhere. We know they have people and the ministry, in the muggle government. Hell you've probably seen them before and didn't even know about it!" Aurora warned.

"Wait, how could they know about Albus? We didn't know until you told us." Scorpius asked.

"They have a machine…they can somehow track when an Anomaly uses there powers. They give off some very strange energy readings and the Cleric's can pick up on it. They know exactly where they are the moment they use it, except when they use it in a magical area. They can't track people inside Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, the ministry, Hogsmead. The heavy amounts of magic interferes with their sensors for some reason. That's why Lincoln has been staying in Hogsmead." She explained.

"So how do we protect him?" Rose asked.

"We get him back to Hogwarts, he can learn to use his power there and then…he goes into hiding." Aurora didn't sound happy about the last part.

"What do you mean?" Rose shrieked in anger. "You expect him to just leave his family, his education, his whole life!"

"If he wants to stay alive! Yes! These people truly believe that what they are doing is right! And they will not stop until he is dead!"

"NO!" Rose was on her feet again, fuming and red faced. "He is not leaving his life just because you say he has to! We can protect him! Our family fought against Voldemort, they can handle these people!"

Aurora actually laughed. Her presumption was astounding. Rose was ready to explode.

"Before I agreed to protect Albus, I knew another Anomaly. Sweet guy. Just like Al, he was 14 when his cycle started. He developed his power. He came into hiding with us. We taught him all about the Cleric's." The was something dark and intimidating in her voice. "But…unfortunately he simply missed his family too much. And one Christmas he decided to go back and see them. He even brought presents. As soon as he walked through the door, the entire house exploded. They had planted a bomb in there and had someone watching the house…he never even saw them."

Rose seemed to be getting the message.

"A gas leak…a terrible accident. That was the official word. They blew up his entire family, just to get to him." Aurora was looking Rose dead in the eye. She looked terrified. "All for the greater good."

Rose sat back down looking like she was ready to throw up.

"I know what I'm talking about Rose. These are the people that murdered my mother." Scorpius's jaw practically hit the table. Rose couldn't speak. They now knew exactly how much Aurora had been risking by choosing to protect Albus. "They will kill anyone that gets in their way. And then they'll just disappear."

Rose was visibly shaking. Scorpius reached over and took her hand. He was trying desperately to be strong for her but it just wasn't working.

"We have to tell Harry." Her voice was course.

"No. You two, Tannis and my friends are they only ones that can know about him." Aurora said instantly.

"Why? They can help -"

"They work at the ministry. They have people at the ministry. The fact that they don't know about Albus is what will keep them alive! The Cleric's don't want people to know that Anomalies exist. If your family knows about Albus then there is nothing to stop the Cleric's from using them to get to him!" Aurora sighed. She rubbed her eyes.

"I know this is difficult. I'm sorry I lied and I know how worried you are about Al. But he's going to be fine. This 'Brain Damage' thing is…it's like a muggle computer. When you make so many changes to the main program the only way it will work properly is if you restart it." She breathed. "He's going to be 100 times what he was before but he's also going to be in more danger than ever before. If I'm going to keep him safe then I'm going to need your help!"

Rose and Scorpius looked at each other then turned back to Aurora.

They were in.

========= MINISTRY OF MAGIC - LONDON - UK - SEPTEMBER 25TH - 2020 A.D. ==========

Rose, Scorpius and Aurora were eventually forced to return to Hogwarts but would be allowed to make infrequent visits. Likewise, Harry simply couldn't put off his work or the press for any longer.

Informing them of Albus's condition had been hard on him. It had taken every single bit of will power he had not to break down and cry in front of the cameras. They had decided to leave out the fact that Albus was aging at an accelerated rate. Mainly due to the fact that they still had absolutely no explanation for it. Every Healer in St. Mungo's was simply stumped by his growth spurts and there was no president of it ever happening before. At least no without some kind of help like an ageing potion or an alchemy accident.

They had even contacted other countries to see if there was an precedent but they had come up short as well.

After the press statement, the out pour of support was, as expected, overwhelming. Everywhere the Potter/Weasley's went, people would offer kind words and any help they could.

Albus's room at the hospital had been filled to the brim with get well cards and care packages. There was even talk of a possible charity being set up. Harry couldn't stand it. His fame had once moved him and his family to the top f every list. He felt guilty that there were others that needed medical treatment just as badly as Albus but weren't given any kind of support.

He wouldn't admit it but being alone in his office was about the nicest place in the world at the moment.

His wife had been crying so much lately that he was surprised she had any tears left at all. She never used to cry, or more accurately, she never cried about anything that happened to her. She wept for others though. She cried for her son. His children (and the rest of the family) walked around like ghosts. The whole place felt like it was being over run by Dementor's.

There was simply no joy left.

And Harry tried to re-organize the mess of paperwork on his desk his thoughts kept flashing back to the day Albus was born. To the moment that his tiny little eyes opened for the first time revealing those beautiful emerald globes.

He was so small and fragile. He never cried. Not when he was a baby. He never got scared. He was curious about everything. He loved to play with his mothers hair.

It wasn't until he grew up and began to see the world that the Potter lived in, did he start to shy away from things. He became humble and nervous. He began to act differently than any other member of the family.

Harry had seen what life was like in both and happy and a not so happy home when he grew up. But Albus came to regard his family they same way Harry regarded the Weasley's. The best people in the world but not his actual family.

The more he thought about it, the more the feelings of guilt and helplessness began to creep back into his stomach.

The was a knock at his door.

"Hi. Need any help?" Hermione asked.

"Everyone keeps saying that." Harry mumbled and began stacking papers.

"I was going to stop off at Hogwarts before going home. Rosey's been acting a bit odd lately." She said.

"I wonder why!" Harry spat. He hated the way people tried to be delicate around him.

There was an uncomfortable silence. Hermione closed the door and walked over to him. She looked at the moving picture on his desk. It was the entire Weasley/Potter family along with Teddy Lupin on the day that James received his Hogwarts letter.

Hermione smiled. "I remember this."

Harry looked at the picture. His eyes immediately found Albus, standing quietly in front of Fred Weasley, who was making faces.

"That was also the day that Teddy broke into your fire whiskey cabinet and drank himself into a stupor." She reminisced.

"Yeah, spent three hours puking up in the bathroom." Harry chuckled. "Albus was so worried about him. He wanted us to take him to St. Mungo's. He always wanted everyone to be safe…" Tears were creeping into his eyes.

"Harry." Hermione said quickly. "You don't need to be here. Go home."

"I'm already behind on too much stuff."

She grabbed his arms, forcing him to look at her. "Harry. Go home!" She ordered.

"I'll just finish organizing this stuff and then -"

"Hey! I am still your boss Auror Potter and I am ordering you to go home!" She smiled faintly.

Harry half huffed, half smiled. "Yeah well, I'm the-boy-who-lived." He hated that title more then ever today.

Hermione looked saddened. She moved in to hug him.

Harry recoiled. Hermione looked shocked.

"We talked about that Hermione." Harry cautioned.

"I was going to hug you!" Hermione scowled.

"Sorry, I just -"

"We agreed that it would never happen again! It was a stupid mistake! It never happened remember!" She hissed.

"I know! I'm sorry." Harry moaned.

"If you can't acted normally then people we know something is up!" She regretted saying it the moment the words had left her mouth.

"Normal! My son has brain damage! He's aged 5 years in a few days! How normal do you expect me to act Hermione?!" Harry flared.

"You know that's not what I meant…Harry I'm still your friend. I just want to help you." She tried.

"You know what. Your right! I am going home!" Harry huffed and stormed out of the room past her.

How could they have been so stupid…

========= ST. MUNGO'S HOSPITAL - LONDON - UK - NOVEMBER 15th 2020 A.D. =========

Harry and the rest of the family, along with quite a few others were stunned even more than before when Albus, for no apparent reason, suddenly stopped aging. He now looked about 19 or 20, and had needed a someone to come and cut his hair for him. His finger nails needed trimming and he was now a heavy built, broad shouldered, 6,2 adult.

They had never seen anything like it. His body was fully developed and healthier than ever. He hadn't needed any treatment to combat muscle or bone degradation. He handed even needed to eat.

One of the healers had remarked that if he didn't have brain damage he would be the healthiest person on the planet. He almost received a punch from Harry for that.

Now, 19 days, hundreds of tests and scans and a hell of a lot of confusion later there had been no change at all. He was simply a 20 year old lying where a 14 years used to be.

It was still Albus. - That's what everybody was forced to tell them selves at least once.

Every night, the medi-witches would check on him, every 3 hours, hoping for a change in his condition. But there never was. Except, this night was different. This night there was a change. Something simple but hard to miss.

Albus was floating…and snoring.

In mid air, 6 feet above the floor, like astronauts floated when they were in space. His snoring wasn't as thunderous as Uncle Ron's. More like someone sleeping off a serious drinking session.

Albus licked his lips. He was thirsty but too tired to get up and get a drink. He wanted to stay in bed for a little bit longer.

After a slight breeze drifted over him he suddenly realized that his covers were missing. He groped around for them, not realizing that they were lying on the floor directly under him. He grunted.

His fluttered open.

For a second he didn't clock it. He wondered where he was. This wasn't Hogwarts. It was a hospital.

_Aww! I hate Hospitals._

It was in that second that he realized that he wasn't actually lying on anything. He looked down to see the 6 foot gap between him and the ground. And then, he suddenly came crashing down!

He hit the ground with a hard Thud! But was on his feet in seconds looking for the practical joker that had been levitating him. But he was alone. The lights were off. The door closed. There was no one there. For a second he wondered if floating was some kind of new treatment the Healers used. But why would he need treatment?

_What the fuck is going on?!_

He tried to remember the last thing before he woke up.

Light. - It flashed into his mind. He remember floating in the place made of light. Then he was here. Floating in this place. Albus had never been more confused in his whole life.

_Wait a minute…therapy! I was having counseling and then… what was that light?_

He walked towards the door. He was only wearing a medical gown but he didn't care. He was going to get some answers.

Before he reached the door however, he caught a glimpse of something odd in the mirror. For a moment he thought it was actually a window because that defiantly wasn't him staring back. But as he moved closer to the mirror, his reflection moved with him.

But that wasn't him. It couldn't be. It's some kind of trick. One of James, Fred and DJ's jokes.

He moved his hands over his face, feeling the bone structure, the skin, his messy hair. He had stubble! Then he saw those vivid emerald eyes. He looked down at his body.

_I've switched bodies with some one! This is madness!_

There was hair on his arms. There was hair on his chest! He lifted up the gown.

_This can't be happening! It's a bad dream it has to be!_

He had muscles! He had a six pack! He was taller!

_Those aren't bad…_

He looked a little further down. He saw his man hood. His new man hood.

He smiled.

_All grown up I see._


	6. I Am Gravaton

6. =========================== I AM GRAVATON! =============================

========= ST. MUNGO'S HOSPITAL - LONDON - UK - NOVEMBER 15TH 2020 A.D. ========

It had taken Harry and Ginny at least 5 minutes to realize that they weren't dreaming. They had been woken up by Draco's floo call and when he had told them about Albus 'change' they simply didn't believe it at first. Then again, everything that has happened to him lately has been so absurdly extraordinary, maybe he actually was awake.

They had then floo'd Hogwarts to let they're children know and immediately set off for St. Mungo's. Tannis would be bringing James and Lily to the hospital in a short while. They would probably refuse to leave with out Hugo and Rose, which meant Rose would refuse to leave without Scorpius.

Basically, everyone would be arriving pretty soon.

Harry was trying so hard not to get his hopes up but he simply couldn't help it. If he had been given his son back… There simply were no words to describe it.

A Medi-witch had found them as soon as they entered the waiting room and was now leading them up to the second floor observation wing. They ran into Draco on the way there. He simply didn't understand it and now seemed quite angry at himself that he couldn't figure it out.

Harry and Ginny's faces dropped as soon as the door to Albus's room opened.

It was empty.

"Where is he?" Harry breathed in horror.

Draco sighed with annoyance. "Wait here, I'll get him!" he huffed and walked away.

This was the third time Albus had gone M.I.A. since he had woken up. Draco knew where to find him.

He made his way to the roof.

Sure enough, Albus was sitting on the side of the wall, looking out across the London skyline and doing a very poor job of hiding a lit cigarette.

"Albus!" Draco snarled.

Al, breathed out a lung full of smoke. "What! You can't expect me to sit in a bloody room doing nothing all day!" He snapped back.

"I got you more magazines!"

"I read them all!"

"And you are going to tell me which one of my orderlies keeps giving you fags!" Draco demanded.

"Sorry, that falls under the patient, doctor confidentiality thingy." Albus chimed.

"You know people that just technically came back from the dead, don't usually take up smoking an hour later!"

"You only live once, or twice in my case." Albus smiled and stood. He was now walking carelessly across the wall that divided the roof with a 80-foot fall to the pavement bellow. A year ago, this would have been one of the most terrifying things in the world for him. Now he didn't give it a second thought. "Besides, it's not like you lot have helped! All them bloody tests you've run and you still can't explain this. It's stressing me out and smoking's good for stress."

"Yeah and bad for your health!"

"That's what they say about dieing. Seems to have done the complete opposite with me."

"Will you get from there! Your parents are here!"

"Oh bloody hell! You know they are just gonna get all weepy and overprotective!" Albus said lazily hopping down from the wall.

"Yes, that's why I have put some vomit bags in your room." Draco said ushering him back through the door.

A few moments later they arrived back at his room.

For second, Harry and Ginny simply stared at the new, grown up version of their son. They couldn't believe.

Then they suddenly rushed him and clamped their arms around him as he knew they would. After the doubled up crushing embrace, Ginny, speaking through tears of joy said: "Who said you could grow up so fast?" She smiled.

She had her family back.

Over the next hour, Tannis had arrived with (As expected) Rose, Hugo, Scorpius, James and Lily, who all gave the exact same reaction that Harry and Ginny did. Ron and Hermione had arrived shortly after and followed suit. After a few minutes of chatting, however, it was obviously still Albus.

His odd knack of being extremely sarcastic after near death experiences had returned with a vengeance and was stronger than ever before. Nobody cared though. They were just happy to have him back, no matter what he looked like. Ron however had taken to standing directly in between Rose and Scorpius and would the latter a cold glare every once in a while. Scorpius remained a silent as a dead body out fear that he might actually become one if he spoke.

Both Rose and Hermione looked extremely annoyed at Ron.

"Honestly Al, what did you think when you saw ya self in the mirror for the first time?" James asked.

"I thought I was going crazy! Thought I had actually lost my mind!" He smiled. "Then I saw how much bigger my cock was and I felt a lot better."

James, Scorpius and Hugo pissed them selves with laughter while everyone else looked scandalized.

Scorpius shut up the moment Ron shot daggers at him again.

"Albus!" Hermione shrieked while trying to hide her amusement.

"What?! I'm not gonna say 'Nah, I preferred the smaller one' then chop the bloody thing off am I?!" Albus laughed. "I'm actually really starting to like this body…" He said feeling his left bicep.

"Yes, well if you wouldn't mind keeping your anatomical details to your self from now on…" Hermione smiled.

"Sorry Hermione." Albus said absently.

Everyone was a little surprise that Albus would call her by her maiden name. She had always been 'Aunt Hermione' to them.

"Hermione?" She repeated with raised eyebrows.

"What? We're all grown ups here." He retorted with a smile causing Harry, Ron and Ginny to chuckle.

"This is so weird! I have a bigger little brother!" James laughed.

"That's right!" Albus suddenly jumped at James and latched him in a headlock. "Now, I'm the one that gets to do this!" Although Albus was only an inch taller than James now, he was a hell of a lot stronger.

"Oww! Mum!" James shouted, trying to squirm out of the hold.

"James! Stop picking on your brother!" Ginny realized what she had said the moment she was finished. Albus and James had actually stopped wrestling with each and were looking at her with amused bewilderment.

"Sorry, force of habit. Err Albus…don't pick on your brother…" Those were a few words she never thought she would hear her self say. Albus released his brother and the two giggled at the situation.

"This is impossible! It's shouldn't be happening!" Draco huffed from the doorway whilst looking over some notes.

"Your right! I'm sorry! You should probably get started on trying to put me back into a coma as soon as possible!" Albus snapped back with an extra layer of sarcasm.

"You know what I mean!" He growled. "There is no precedence for something like this! Humans don't just get ill, die, come back to life, age 5 years in 5 days then wake up with a clean bill of health!"

"Humans don't." Scorpius whispered to Rose. She gave him a fierce look as if to say _'Shut your mouth!'._

"Look, I'm going to need some more blood Albus, I'm also going to recommend a few more scans and -" Draco said looking over his notes.

"Nope! I ain't staying here any longer! I've been here for 25 days and your still don't have any answers! No, whatever tests you want done, you can ask Madam Pomfrey to do them! I'm going back to Hogwarts!" Albus announced.

A few of them were little stunned. Albus was never normally this forceful, unless he was extremely angry. Scorpius and Rose knew exactly why he wanted to go back.

He wanted to see what Aurora thought of the new him.

"I'm sure there's a way we can arrange something like that." Hermione assured.

"What?! Your telling me your just going to let him wonder off like nothing has happened! If what cause him to get ill in the first place is contagious…He's not going anywhere!"

"Your not his family Malfoy!" Hermione hissed back.

"And your not a healer Weasley! Don't tell me how to do my job!"

"I got you this job you ungrateful little ferret!" She glared.

The tension was cut by Albus laughing. "It's nice to see that you've all bonded through this crisis…Ron trying to kill my best mate and Hermione about to kill my doctor…this kinda stuff makes coming back from the dead worth while!" James, Hugo, Lily and to some extent Scorpius had started laughing as well. Rose was still glaring at her father.

"Listen Draco. My son has been through quite enough lately. He's been in the hospital way more than I would have ever wanted and I don't think it's too much to give him some time away from all this." Harry reasoned.

Draco sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Fine! But I want constant updates of his condition! The moment anything changes I want him back here at once!"

"I'm sure we'll be able to arrange that." Harry agreed.

"Doubt they'll be much to report. I feel fine. In fact I feel better than fine, I feel great! I've never felt this good in my entire life!" Albus said, studying his features in the mirror again. He had a larger jaw than Harry. If fact he was bigger boned than him all over. His build was much heavier, of course he had never suffered the same undernourishment that Harry did as a child. "I feel…lighter…like, everything feels right…natural."

"I'll get the paperwork arranged." Draco left the room.

For a second Albus's mind flashed back to the door made of light. He had a theory of what it was but couldn't sure.

"This isn't fair! Why do I have to be the shortest in the family?!" Lily moaned. She was now the shortest by quite a bit. The only person she could actually compete with was Albus but now that he had shot up so much, she didn't stand a chance.

"Don't worry love. Your mum was your size when she was your age." Ron smiled.

"That's right. The best things come in small packages." Hermione agreed.

"Yeah, tell that to my penis!" Albus giggled.

"ALBUS!" Several voices shrieked.

============ HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - NOVEMBER 16TH - 2020 A.D. ============

Scorpius and the Potter/Weasley family floo'd to Hogwarts the next day. Draco had come with them but had left immediately to go and speak with Madam Pomfrey about possible precautions they should take. Everyone else was met by Tannis as soon as they arrived.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts Mr. Potter." He said with a large smile on his face. He didn't seem at all bothered by Albus's new appearance.

Luckily they had arrived at half past ten in the morning and most of the students were in lessons. Albus really didn't care what everyone thought about his sudden growth spurt but he would rather not face the entire school seconds after arriving.

"Feels like years since I've been here." Albus said whilst looking over the stone structure.

"About 5 years…" James giggled.

Albus simply laughed it off. He was just happy to be out of the hospital and back here.

"Now Albus, there is one slight hiccup in this of course. And that is that your 4th year uniforms, clothes and bed are now much too small for you." Tannis said.

"Can't you just enlarge them? I mean I would do it but we all know I suck at magic." Al said absently.

"Well that was our original thought but then I had another. I discussed it with Professor Arken and she agreed that it was a good idea…"

Albus looked around, now quite interested.

"…We're going to give you your own room." Tannis said simply.

James' face dropped. "What?!"

"Unfortunately the only free, room sized space we have is the Dark Tower. Since it has been used in over 25 years I had Professor Collins transfigure it into a suitable room for you."

Harry smiled and Hermione went slightly red. The last time the dark tower had been used was when Sirius Black was being held there, at least until they broke him out.

"I get my own room?!" Albus's smiled couldn't have been bigger.

"That's not fair! I'm almost as tall as him!" James huffed but was ignored.

"I've already taken the liberty of having your things moved there for you." Tannis smiled.

"Thank you! Wow…new body, new room, I need to die more often." Albus giggled but not many others smiled. It was still a touchy subject.

"Right Potter." Draco Malfoy stern voice came from behind them. "You will check in with Madam Pomfrey every morning before classes. If you start to feel even the slightest change temperature, nausea, headaches, dizzy spells, anything! You report to St. Mungo's at once do you hear me?"

"My stomachs rumbling! My god something must be wrong!" Albus said added as much mock drama and sarcasm as possible.

"This isn't a joke Potter!" Draco snarled.

"He understands. Don't you Al?" Ginny cut in.

"Yep. If I become the walking dead, I'll walk my undead arse all the way to St. Mungo's. Gotcha." Al laughed as he watched Draco's face turning slightly red.

Draco huffed once more then walked over to his son. He pulled him to the side away from the rest of them. At the exact same time, Ron pulled Hugo away as well.

"You so much as touch that Weasley girl, I swear I will diagnose you with Spattergroit and have you moved to a leper colony!" Draco hissed.

"If he goes near your sister, you tell me and I'll have him in Azkaban before the day is out." Ron growled.

Albus giggled to himself. He found it hilarious that the first time Ron and Draco ever worked together was to try and make sure that they're children didn't get together.

After the mandatory and monstrous goodbye hugs from the family, Albus was shown up to his new room by Tannis. James, Hugo, Lily, Scorpius and Rose were ordered to get to their lessons and try and make up for what they had missed.

Despite the fact that it was a prison cell, the room now had a very warm feeling to it. It wasn't huge. Enough for a bed, a trunk, a wardrobe, some draws and a little space to move around. The heavy metal cell door had been replaced with a furnished oak one and the walls had been scrubbed clean. (Probably by the House Elves)

They thing Albus loved about the room however was the view. The Dark Tower was one of the highest points of Hogwarts and from the small balcony, you could see the entire castle and grounds. It was incredible.

"It's perfect." Albus smiled.

"We'll I'm glad it's to your liking." Tannis smiled. "Getting the smell out was a nasty job, but we managed it in the end."

Albus smelt the air. He could still smell the left over rotten scent that had probably lingered in that tower for years. It was too strong though and would probably be cover by the smell of burning tobacco soon enough.

For a few seconds Albus simply looked around, taking the view in. Something had been on his mind all day but unfortunately there was no one around that he could talk about it with.

"Professor. You spent quite a lot of time around Muggles?"

"Yes."

"Did you hear them talk about…heaven?" Albus was finding it difficult to word.

"Heaven? As in the eternal paradise?" Tannis sounded a little surprised.

"Yes." Albus turned to look at him.

"Well, my family is originally Muslim and believes wholehearted in the afterlife. But I'm afraid I never felt he same passion. As I've already told you Albus, my passion lies in Magic and Science." Tannis admitted.

"Oh." Albus felt slightly let down.

"Why do you ask?"

"The only thing I can remember between passing out and waking up was this…door…it was made of light. It felt like it was welcoming me…and I moved closer to it…and…" The light flashed into his mind again. He saw himself reaching out to touch the source. "I touched it…I think it was heaven…and then I woke up in the hospital."

Tannis thought for a second. "Well, you be the first to calm that you had an out of body experience. Many people say that they saw a glimpse of what comes after this world when they were close to death. Again I'm afraid I have had no such experiences. But…if you truly believe that you touched the gates of heaven…then there is no reason for you to doubt such a thing. I would never ask anyone to give up or alter their belief's simply because I don't fully understand them."

Albus smiled. "Thank you Professor."

"I'll give you some time to get settled then perhaps later we can talk about possible ways for you to catch up with the work you have missed." Tannis said. "It's nice to have you Albus." He smiled before leaving.

He waited for a few minutes before pulling out a half empty pack of cigarettes and lighting one. Albus walked back out onto the balcony and stared into the distance. He wasn't looking at anything in particular. He was simply thinking. The door made of light still firmly set in his mind.

Was it God? Was it heaven? Was it a hallucination?

The logical explanations had passed through his mind several times as well.

They were pumping me full of so many potions it could quite easily have been some kind of feeling of euphoria brought on by them or an odd reaction to the loss of oxygen. But it felt so warm and welcoming. It felt so right…Then I was just back in the Hospital -

Albus's mind suddenly froze.

I was floating!

With everything that had happened, he had completely forgotten. His Power!

Albus bolted from the room and down the stairs. He ran as fast as he could to the Room of Requirement.

Please be empty! He thought as he arrived outside the concealed entrance. He focused his thoughts and repeated.

I need a place where I can test my power! I need a place where I can test my power!

To his delight the door started to appear. YES!

He entered the room and closed the door behind him. Inside the room was pretty bare. Only a few tables and stools were littered around the place. The exact way he had left it.

When got angry before he would simply let his power out on the poor helpless furniture. This was his rubber room.

With hesitating he picked one of the stools to target. He raised his hand at the stool but nothing happened.

Okay! Get angry! Think of something that really pisses -

Suddenly the wave erupted from the palm of his hand. The stool was thrown across the room and slammed into the wall behind it. The wave was different this time. Instead of light erupting with the wave, it was more a distortion in the air. The same way that things ripple and move in the distance on a hot day.

Whoa… I wasn't even angry!

He picked another stool and repeated. This time he didn't try to get angry. He simply willed the power to come.

In a heart beat the same wave blasted from his hand and smashed into the stool. He picked a third but this time he wanted to try a more gentle attempt. He held out his had and focuses.

He had more control over his abilities than ever before. Even though he still had no idea exactly what it was he could do, he still couldn't believe it. He was instantly excited.

The stool suddenly shot across the floor and fell over but didn't break. He tried again and the stool scraped across the floor again, as if it was being pulled by an invisible string. He tried again.

Nothing happened.

Albus looked a little confused. He tried again. Nothing. He stared at the stool for a second and thought. Hmm…

Albus took two steps forward and then held out his hand. The stool moved across the floor again.

"About 9 feet…" He muttered.

Something again entered his mind. I was defiantly floating…

Albus looked down at his feet. Okay…here we go…

He focused everything he could on his feet and the floor. He wanted them to move apart but nothing was happening. He closed his eyes and pictured himself floating in mid air again.

Then the ground was no longer under his feet. He slowly opened his eyes and quickly turned to shock. There was about 8 inches of space between him and the floor. He smiled but that quickly faded as he began to roll backwards slowly in mid air.

There was no leverage, no way of controlling his movements, nothing to grip hold off. He flapped his airs around wildly, trying to steady himself but he simply continued to roll.

"Whoa! Okay! I don't like this!" Albus blurted and he continued to spin around on all axis.

A lightning bolt suddenly hit him. He knew what this was. And with that he came crashing back to earth. Luckily he had only fallen about three feet this time and so the impact didn't hurt. He wouldn't have cared if it had. He knew exactly what his power was!

He stood and focused his mind. He knew exactly what he wanted to happen. Albus looked at the roof of the room. He bent his legs and pushed off. Suddenly he was simply floating, he was being pulled towards the ceiling.

At the last second he managed to flip himself around and landed. He was now standing upside down on the ceiling of the Room of Requirement. He looked around in amazement for a second then burst into fits of excited laughter.

He slowly floated back down to the ground, flipping himself upright as he did.

He had seen it before of TV. Astronauts. Gravity! He can manipulate Gravity! Tannis had told him that his ability didn't sound like telekinesis because telekinesis doesn't (that anyone knows about) cause distortions or bursts of light. He face scrunched up in confusion.

How could Gravity create Light? He wondered.

After several minutes of trying to figure it out he still had no idea. He knew he was going to have to talk to Tannis about this. The headmaster was the only one that could possibly explain this properly.

But first…

Albus decided to play around a little more. He experimented with changing the direction of Gravity's pull. He managed to summon a stool towards himself, which then promptly whacked him in the chest.

He managed to push objects away at anywhere from a snails pace to the equivalent of being his by a speeding truck. He was able to walk up and down walls, float effortlessly in mid air and even lighten objects. After many attempts he was finally getting the hang of maneuvering in Zero Gravity. It simply had to change the pull or push of gravity at different places in his body to move in a different direction.

He had attempted to float a table by thinking about it but it hadn't worked for some reason. He walked over to make sure the table wasn't nailed down but when he lifted it, it was a light as a feather.

He had even re-configured the room to include he favorite Grand Piano and managed to lift that as if it was a glass of orange juice.

His power was quickly become second nature. It didn't feel like some new though. It felt like something he had been missing his whole life and was just catching up with now. Like he had been half asleep since the day he was born and had only just fully woken up.

This power was meant to be his.

After another 4 hours of playing/experimenting with his power, Albus felt like he was king of the universe. He couldn't have been more giddy if he tried. He raised his hands in triumph and shouted in a voice that slightly resembled Darth Vadar's.

"_YES! BOW BEFORE ME PUNY MORTALS! I AM GRAVATON!"_


	7. This is Just a Test

7. =============================== TESTING ================================

============ HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - NOVEMBER 16TH 2020 A.D. =============

Albus walked up to the stone gargoyles that guarded the Headmasters office. He was still buzzing from the time he spent in the Room of Requirement.

"The Potters are always welcome here." Albus said quickly.

The gargoyles jumped aside without a word. Albus continued into the headmasters office. He knocked half heartily on the door as he entered. He was still a little too excited to be a polite as he usually was.

Alexander Tannis was standing just in front of Dumbledore's portrait. They had apparently been discussing something.

"Albus, still enjoying your first day back?" Tannis smiled.

"You have no idea." Albus laughed. "You remember the conversation we had at the end of last term. I told you what really brought the shrieking shack down?" Albus sat down in chair he always took.

Tannis nodded. "How could I forget."

"You said my ability didn't sound like telekinesis. I had no idea what it was until just now! It's gravity!" He blurted.

Tannis raised his eyebrows. "Gravity?"

"Yeah! I didn't tell anyone because I knew they would just think I was crazy but when I woke up in the hospital, I was…floating. And then when I just go back, I suddenly remember and so I went to the Room of Requirement to see if my powers still worked." Albus only stopped speaking to catch his breath.

"I take it they did."

"Not just worked! It's stronger and more focused than ever before!" Albus stood up and began pacing the room. He was way to wired to stay in the same place. "All I have to do is think it and it works! Watch!"

Before Tannis could respond, Albus held out his hand and aimed at a small waste paper bin. A weak distortion shot from his hand sending the bin rattling across the floor.

Tannis simply stared at the air where the distortion had been. "Hmm…can you pull it towards you?"

"Yep!" Albus said happily. He took a few steps forward and raised his hand again. The bin floated slowly off the ground and towards him until he reached out and grabbed it. "Took me a while to get the hang of that one. First time I smacked by a damn stool!"

"How long have you been practicing?"

"I went down to the Room right after I got back. Been there ever since…there's one more thing…" An enormous grin had appeared on Albus's face. "I can fly!"

This stunned Tannis. "Are you sure?"

"Well, I mean I've only tried it inside the Room of Requirement but I mean I can control Gravity! There no reason I shouldn't be able to, right?" Albus waited for Tannis to answer.

"Show me." He seemed to be deep in thought. Like he brain was processing dozens of equations at once.

Albus smiled and noticed that several of the portraits, including Professors Snape and Dumbledore, had become quite interested.

Albus stood on the spot for a second doing nothing. Okay, just nice and simply. Nothing flashy, just float.

The portraits gasped as Albus' feet left the firm foundations of the office floor. He simply floated in mid air for a few seconds, as if he was standing on an invisible raised platform. He touched back down and grinned.

"Fascinating." Tannis breathed.

"You certainly are full of surprises Mr. Potter." Professor Dumbledore's portrait smiled.

Something clicked inside Albus's head. He had heard that before but not from any of the teachers. His gaze moved up to the Sorting Hat that was sitting peacefully on it's small perch.

"Your not surprised though are you?" Albus said calmly.

"Seeing a human being fly without using magic or device. That, Mr. Potter would surprise anyone. However, I'll admit I knew there was something different about you." The sorting hat said casually.

Tannis stayed silent and listen to him converse with the Hat.

"You said there was power inside me. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you didn't want to be told. You were waiting for something Mr. Potter and now I think it has finally arrived." The hat said proudly.

Albus flashed back to what the hat had told him on the day of his sorting. He remembered something else.

"You said you hadn't seen someone like me in a very long time."

"Indeed."

"But you have seen someone like me before?" Albus asked with raised eyebrows.

"I'm afraid I am not permitted to speak about other students Mr. Potter. It would be an intrusion into their privacy." The hat informed.

Albus's heart began to beat faster. He knew he wasn't alone! He wasn't the only one!

"Huh." Albus thought for a second. "Can you tell me when you last saw it?"

The Hat was silent for a moment. "During the September sorting in the year 1093."

"And that's the only one you've ever seen?" Albus asked.

"You have my word Mr. Potter."

"Alright." Albus thought about this for a few moments. The last person like him to come to Hogwarts arrived almost a thousand years ago…

If there were other's like him in the world then they hadn't come through Hogwarts. If they are out there, what are their abilities? A cold dark thought entered his mind. A horrible acidic taste crept into the back of his mouth.

What if he was the only one? There was no record of anything like this happening before. Of course there wouldn't be, if the last time it happened was a thousand years ago.

"Albus, are you alright?" Tannis' voice broke his thoughts.

"Yeah, err, I'm fine…just thinking about something."

"I must say Albus, I never heard of anything like this before." Tannis admitted.

"Ahh. See I was hoping that you could explain something to me?"

"If I can, I will."

"The light. When I used my power in the shack, it was like a wave of energy. But when I use it now, you can barely see it. I was just wondering…not that I'm not happy those stupid little Pops are gone…I hated those!"

"Well, suddenly gravitational changes can cause distortions in space-time and can also effect light particles…"

Albus looked like he had just taken a bludger to the head. Tannis saw his confusion and smiled.

"Have you ever heard of a Black Hole Albus?" Tannis decided to take a simpler approach.

"Rings a bell."

"A Black Hole is a massive gravity distortion in space that's left over when a star, like our Sun, collapses. It's a gravity well with so much power it actually eats entire galaxies. The pull of gravity is so strong that it sucks everything into it include interstellar particles, light, some even say time it's self. So it's entire possible that the sudden changes to the gravitation fields around you may cause sudden loss or bursts of light." Tannis explained. "But, I'm afraid Physics really isn't my field. As I've already explained."

Albus nodded. He understood most of what had just been said but was still going to do some research.

"On a similar note Albus, I really don't think it's a good idea to tell anyone about your abilities. Especially the fact that you can fly."

"Why not?"

"Well the last person that achieved flight without a broomstick or a Thestral wasn't exactly well liked." Tannis cautioned.

Albus was stumped. He took a shot in the dark. "Iron man?"

"Voldemort."

"Oh, right!" Albus felt a little stupid for not getting that right away.

"Oh so you have remembered that there was a Dark Lord that almost conquered the entire wizarding world…" Snape mocked.

"Yeah I do remember…he was…err…potions teacher right?" Albus never backed down from Snape. He may have been a hero but that didn't stop him from being an arrogant prick.

Snape glared at him. "Of course, following in the Potter tradition of placing your self on the pedestal for all to see!"

"Actually I floated onto the pedestal because, oh yeah! I can fly!" Albus rubbed in.

For a few seconds Albus and Snape glared at each other.

"So we're agreed Mr. Potter. You will keep this ability of yours, under wraps?" Tannis questioned.

"Yeah, no worries. No one will know." Albus smiled and did a little bow.

Snape scoffed. "I'll believe when I see it."

"But you won't see it! You can't even see the wall that your stuck too!" Albus said sweetly. As he began heading to the door.

He turned around before leaving. "Oh Professor, you don't have a quick quotes quill I could borrow do you?"

"Certainly." Tannis pulled out his wand, gave it a little flick and a quill shot across the room and into Albus's hand.

"Thanks again." Albus said before leaving.

============ HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - NOVEMBER 17TH - 2020 A.D. ============

Albus had spent the rest of the day moving between his room and the Room of Requirement. He hadn't even seen any of his friends and because of his new found power, Aurora had only entered his mind on a few occasions. He hadn't even been down to dinner.

The sky was pitch black as Albus snuck his way out onto the grounds. Apart from the odd animal noise coming from the Forbidden Forrest, the entire area was silent. Albus picked up the very faint sound of Hagrid's monstrous snoring from his hut but that nothing else.

He walked out into the open just a few feet away from the black lake. He pulled out the quick quotes quill and a plain piece of parchment. The quill jumped to life and floated over to the parchment waiting for Albus to speak.

He pulled out a small stop watch that he had 'borrowed' from the potions supply cabinet. Albus looked around again to make sure that he was alone. He checked the skies for little white lights. The last thing he wanted to do was crash into a Muggle aeroplane.

"Okay…date November 17th 2020, time -" He checked his watch as the quill began scribbling notes "3.47 am. We'll call this Flight Mark One. I'm just going to start with something nice and simple to check that I can still maneuver outside as well as in." The quill finished writing and tip looked up waiting for Albus again.

Albus took a breath and then lifted off the ground. He did a simple 360 spin in the air, then floated left to right, then back flip and finally touched back down.

"Okay, there doesn't seem to be any difference in control. I was worried about wind resistance but there isn't any tonight so we'll have to cover that some other time." The quill again scribbled down his words.

Albus took a few breaths to steady him self. He hadn't actually been anywhere high up since his encounter inside his own nightmares. He had managed to face his other fears but he really wasn't sure when it came to heights.

You can do this! It's fine! There's nothing to be afraid of. You can fly so heights mean nothing anymore! Just relax, everything is going to be just fine!

Unfortunately he still wasn't convinced. He looked over to see the quill staring at him. Almost as if it was daring him.

"Look I'm gonna do it alright! Just give me a minute!" He growled at the little feathered stick. He took another breath and looked up.

"To infinity…and beyond." His voice shook.

He bent his legs, summoning the power inside of him. He focused on the gravity directly below him, then around his body. He took another breath and then pushed off.

Suddenly Albus blasted, at the speed of a bullet, off the ground and into the air. He cleared 100, then 200, then 300 feet up and continued to climb.

Don't look down! Don't look down! Don't look down!

He looked down.

"HOLY SHIT!" He was 500 feet above sea level!

He slowed to a halt and simply floated in mid air for a few seconds. His sudden panic began to fade. This was easy. He looked around. He could see for miles. In the far distance he spotted the thousands of blinking lights of a Muggle town.

He looked down again. The enormous castle looked like a garden shed from that height. He turned in mid air. To his left and now quite far below him was Hogsmead Village.

A smile crept up on his face. This isn't so bad.

This is just floating. He thought as he moved his body around in the air. Time to fly!

With a sudden burst of speed Albus took off into the distance. There was a thunderous clap as the Sonic Boom erupted around him. Albus just broke the sound barrier. He kept his arms at his sides, slightly spread out, so that he could use his palms to give off gravity bursts and maneuver.

He rocketed around then dipped lower bringing the ground closer to him until he was only 20 feet above the highest tree tops. He continued to jet his was around the Scottish terrain. He banked around heading back for the castle.

He spotted in the distance. Albus slowed slightly and came in over the Black Lake. As he passed, water caught in his wake sprayed everywhere.

He could see the spot in which he took off from. He flipped him self around to land feet first, only he underestimated just how fast he was going.

_And dismount…_

Albus's feet touched down be he didn't stop. Instead he ground his way through the earth, digging a long crater behind him.

_Not good!_

He still didn't stop and actually skidded straight into a tree with a loud Thud!

Albus lay on the ground for a second not moving. The quick quotes quill and parchment floated over to him, awaiting his notes.

"Ouch…"

The quill scribbled it down.

"Wait…" Albus suddenly sat up. "Not ouch!" He felt his head, his arms, his body. Nothing hurt. There were no cuts, bruises or broken bones.

His mind flashed back to the incident on the train. When Lithgo had tried to beat him to death with a metal pipe. He took more then 6 swings at him with that pipe and Albus blocked each one with his arm. (Except for the one that nailed his hand to the train) There was some kind of shield rapped around his arm when it happened.

_Gravity Shield…sweet!_

Albus stood up and began dusting the dirt off his clothes. "Err…Outdoors Flight Test One was successful!" He suddenly noticed the enormous crater that he left in the ground. "But landing could do with a little improvement…"

Albus managed to avoid detection and made his way back to his room. He thought it best to try and get some sleep unfortunately he simply wasn't tired. He laid in bed trying to fall asleep for over an hour but it simply didn't work. He didn't even want to sleep, but was so used to making him self get a good nights rest he just tried to continue to habit.

Eventually he got up and sat out on his balcony having a smoke. He looked down to see that he only had one more left in his pack. He would have to use the tunnel in the Room of Requirement to sneak into Hogsmead and -

_What the hell is wrong with you! You bloody muppet you can fly!_

He laughed at himself so being so idiotic. He was going to have to get used to this. There were so many rules and boundaries that no longer applied to him. There were hundreds of different ways of stopping students from leaving and/or stopping people from entering Hogwarts but not one single one of those ways were designed to stop a man that could fly.

Albus stubbed out his cigarette and positioned himself on the edge of the balcony. In the distance he could see the sun was starting to rise. He was going to have to be quick.

_Not a problem…_

He took a swan dive off the balcony and fell over 50 feet before taking flight and blasting off in the direction of the muggle village he spotted during his test flight.

He managed to locate an all-night garage just outside the village on the main road. He made sure to land on the other side of the road. Once again he had a little trouble stopping and caused a very large drag mark in the ground.

With his shoes and trousers capped with mud he entered the garage and brought several packs of cigarettes from the young and very board woman behind the counter. She didn't seem the slightest bit annoyed that he had just trudged dirt all through the garage. Then again she didn't seem bothered by anything. Naturally, Albus's new older look meant he didn't get his age questioned anywhere anymore.

With his pockets full of smokes he flew back to the castle. He didn't trust his flying abilities enough to attempt a landing on his balcony just yet and decided to land in the same spot as before. He didn't collide with the tree this time but did make the crater about a foot deeper.

He again snuck his way back to his room. Unfortunately the only clothes he had were a few of James old ones. His new uniform hadn't arrived yet, neither had the clothes that his parents promised to get him. Which meant he was left with two white T-shirts that were about two sizes to small for him and a pair of jeans that barely fit him.

He had managed to borrow a pair of black trainers from Ron which were so old that they seemed to only be held together by the laces.

By the time the clock had clicked 5:58am, Albus had again become agitated and unable to stay in the same place for too long. He snuck down to the Library and searched the shelves for any books on Physics.

The most he could find were a few of the books on transfiguration and charms that talked about magic in relation to the Muggle laws of physics. He grabbed them just in case they had any kind of useful information in them but expected that he would need to send away…or fly away to get anything solid on the subject.

He had read through 3 books in 2 hours but hadn't made much progress.

Gravity, although still pretty constant in the wizarding world, wasn't as firm a law as it was in the Muggle world. Flying charms that had been cast on brooms gave him some idea of how Altering or rather 'going around' gravity was possible. He found the same ideas from studying the 'Levicorpus' charms and other levitation spells but nothing he found said anything about being able to make a human fly so fast that he beat the sound barrier.

He hadn't been able to find much about Voldemort's ability to fly either. Most of the articles simply talked about him using extremely dark magic to defy gravity. Albus didn't even use a wand and he doubted very seriously that Voldemort could match his speed.

He wasn't even sure what kind of speeds he could fly at.

"Err note to self…" The quick quotes quill suddenly jumped to life and began writing. "Find a way to conduct a speed test." He remember something else. "And a shield test."

Albus heard footsteps coming up the stairs towards his room.

He grabbed the quill and parchment and hid them in a chest of draws just as there was a knock on the door.

Scorpius poked his head through the door.

"Hey."

"Morning."

"How ya settling in?" Scorpius asked.

"It's alright. I love the balcony."

Scorpius walked out and took a look at the view. "I'm gonna complain to someone, this isn't fair!" He laughed.

"Yeah, well I expect its only because Tannis was worried that the other students might get a little freaked out by sharing their dorm with a 20 year old bloke." Albus admitted.

"But your not 20, your 14. You just look 20."

"Yeah I know, but they don't. They'd probably -" Albus stopped in mid sentence and scrunched up his face.

"What?"

"I missed Aurora's birthday again, didn't I?"

"I'm sure she'll let you off, what with the whole coma thing." Scorpius laughed.

"Oh, no wait I forgot, she hates me." Albus said glumly.

"She doesn't hate you." Scorpius snapped back immediately.

"She broke my nose! I haven't spoken to her in what? 6 weeks?"

"Again because of the slight coma."

"Nah, maybe I'm better off just leaving her be. She does seem quite happy with Cody." Albus sighed and pulled out a cig.

"I'm sure what to suggest with you two. Either marriage or Divorce."

"Ah?" Albus asked whilst lighting his smoke.

"When did you start smoking?"

"Forget that, what did you mean, marriage or divorce?"

Scorpius thought for a second. It would be unfair for him to divulge anything she told him. It was for her to tell Albus, not him. "I just mean that when you two talk to each other you act like a bickering married couple and when you don't speak, you both look like you want nothing more than to ravish the other."

Albus was a little taken back. "When does she look like she wants to ravish me?"

Scorpius huffed. "Can we go get some breakfast please? I'm starving!"

"Err, I was gonna wait, you know until after everyone else had finished. Might be a little weird." Al admitted sheepishly.

Scorpius knew he was just nervous about seeing Aurora.

"Everyone knows that you look older now. Tannis made the announcement at breakfast just before you got back."

Albus sighed. He through the rest of his cigarette over the balcony. "Fine, lets go."


	8. Mr Popular

============================= MR. POPULAR =============================

============ HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - NOVEMBER 17TH - 2020 A.D. ============

Albus and Scorpius made there way down to the great hall. As they walked Al couldn't help wonder what was probably already being said about him. This was Hogwarts after all; The rumor and gossip capital of the magical world.

"You spoken to Aurora lately?" Al asked. Scorpius was thrown a little of guard but managed to again pull out his Oscar worthy lying abilities.

"Not since I saw her at the hospital."

"She came to see me?" Al asked.

"Yeah."

"Did…she…look…worried?" Albus prayed for a scene in which Aurora wept over his lifeless body, confessing her undying love for him.

"Yeah, she…you know, she's not really the sort that shows her feelings but…She was worried, I could tell." Scorpius felt very uncomfortable lying to his best friend.

Albus caught a whiff of Bacon and Egg's drifting up from the great hall. "Ah, that smells good."

"What?"

"Breakfast."

Scorpius sniffed but couldn't smell anything. "You know we're on the fourth floor right?"

"Yeah."

"So how can you smell…never mind." Scorpius surmised that Albus's increased senses were all part of his metamorphosis. "I'm getting more hungry by the second."

As soon as they to got to the second floor, Albus could pick up the faint sounds of knives and forks hitting plates and people conversing as they ate. Even he had to admit that this was a little unusual but of course, there was nothing usual about Albus these days.

Albus began to slow down as they approached the doors to the hall. He knew that as soon as he walked in, ever eye would be put on him. Of course there was only one pair of eyes he cared about. Those vivid blue wolf eyes.

Albus took a breath and walked in.

As expected, every one immediately turned to look at him. Then the whispers erupted.

Ah, it's sooo good to be back…

Albus found it slightly odd that for once people weren't staring at him and whispering because his last name was Potter but because he was nothing short of a walking freak occurrence. Even the large group of girls that were all trying to talk to Verrick at the same time suddenly stopped and put an eye on Albus.

He looked over towards the Ravenclaw table. She wasn't there. Neither was Lynx.

Ah. It's Friday.

Friday was the DA meetings day so Lynx and Aurora had most likely decided to use the Room of Requirement early. Albus quickly wondered how far Lynx had come with her Animagus training.

He walked over to the Gryffindor table, ignoring the odd looks and gossip going on all around him. He found Rose who was beaming at him. He and Scorpius walked over and sat down next to her. None of the Gryffindor's seemed to object to Scorpius sitting at their table. They were way more interested in the fully grown version of Albus.

"Hey Ligger Brother." James smiled.

"Ligger?"

"Little-Bigger Brother." He said causing Fred and DJ to snicker.

"James, don't make me pick on you." Albus said causing Fred and DJ to laugh harder.

"How are you feeling?" Rose asked. She seemed to be half expecting Albus to spontaneously combust at any second.

"150%, just like yesterday." Albus said helping him self to the bacon and eggs he had smelt earlier.

"You will remember to go and see Madam Pomfrey today won't you?" She fussed.

"Yes! Can I please eat my Breakfast first!"

Whoopee! Albus' arm shot out like a bullet and caught the troublesome Pygmy-puff before he could spring board into his eggs.

"Not today little man!" Goliath only seemed more excited by Albus' protection of his breakfast.

"Good reflexes." Scorpius said quietly whilst looking at Rose. She shot him a 'Not yet!' look.

"Go bug Lily!" Albus said releasing the puff onto the table. Goliath rolled his way down the table and belly flopped into Lily's Pumpkin Juice.

"Goliath!" She squealed.

"Hey Stranger." An angelic and slightly Irish voice said from behind him. Al turned to see Violet Finnigan beaming down at him.

"Hey beautiful." Albus stood and hugged her.

"God! Look how tall you are!" She laughed.

"Yeah. So what do you think of the new me?" Albus did a little twirl to show off.

"To be honest I preferred being taller than you. I think you should go back to being the short, cute, geeky Albus you were before." She giggled.

"Hey! I was never Geeky!" Over Violet's shoulder, Albus caught a glimpse of Cody Miller looking at him.

Albus glared and Cody shot around looking worried.

"So any other changes we should know about?" She asked.

Albus paused. "W-well, some other…little things." _Like the fact that I can fly!_

"Yeah well, don't go changing too much. I kinda liked the old Albus." She smiled.

"It's all skin deep love…and chiseled muscle, washboard abs, burly shoulders and I haven' even told you about my -" Al was cut off the moment he looked down at his crouch.

"That! I don't need to know about!" She playfully slapped him on the arm and walked back over to the Ravenclaw table.

Albus sat back down at the table and finished his eggs, whilst keeping a watchful eye on the mad pygmy puff that Lily was drying off with her wand. Albus was glad that he wasn't the only one that was gaining more control over powerful abilities. Lily's 'accidents' were becoming few and far between and her grades were skyrocketing.

"I still can't believe that you get your own room." Neil Bogdon huffed as he took a seat next to Scorpius.

"Yeah, well, when you need to shave once every three days, maybe they'll give you your own room." Albus mused sarcastically.

"It's because you're a Potter!" His scowled.

"No, it's because I am living in the body of a twenty year old!" Al shot back.

Neil mumbled something to himself and began scoffing his food.

Luckily for Scorpius and Rose, Albus's sudden growth spurt, his coma and now the news that he had his own room at Hogwarts had steered the gossip away from their relationship. Scorpius only had to endure about 24 hours of whispers and possible pranks from James, Fred and DJ before news began to spread about Albus condition.

Albus was quite happy about that. He would rather take the brunt of public rumors then his cousin and best friend.

Suddenly he caught of whiff of a very odd smell. It smelt almost like the Burrow, right before Mrs. Weasley started cooking.

"Is there a cat in here?" Al asked, sniffing the air.

"More like a mountain lion." Neil grumbled and nodded towards the door.

Al turned to see Aurora and Lynx enter the hall. Lynx was beaming. She and Aurora were chatting like crazy and Aurora seemed very proud of her. It was pretty obvious that she had managed a full transformation and was defiantly something feline.

Maybe she can turn into a Lynx. Would make sense…

Albus dropped his fork as his eyes suddenly looked on Aurora's. For a second they simply looked at each other. The rest of the room faded away around them as both seemed to want to move but couldn't. Then he was jolted back to reality as he realized she was walking towards him. For some reason he was panicking.

He tried to act natural.

"Hi." She said softly.

"Hi." He breathed back.

The rest of the table seemed to be trying desperately to ignore the exchange but were in fact listening and watching nothing else.

"Can we talk?"

"Sure." Albus stood up at once and the two began walking out of the hall.

A few seconds after they left, James was tapped on the shoulder. He looked around to see the Hufflepuff 7th year, Sarah Manningsfield standing behind him. She was one of the 'Hogwarts Elite'. Extremely beautiful with shoulder length blond hair, incredible body and big pouting lips. She was also one of the few girls that hadn't become yet another of James's conquests. But he was certainly planning to make her one.

"Sarah. I was wondering when you were going to finally come over a confess you undying love for me!" James boasted.

"Keep wondering Potter." She smiled sweetly. "That was your brother right?"

"Al? Yeah, looks a little different doesn't he. I can still take him in a fight though." Jams continued to show off in front of his friends.

"I'm sure you can. Listen, is he seeing anyone?" She asked quickly.

James looked a little confused for a second. "I'm sure he sees a lot of people. He didn't get my dad's crappy eyesight, now, what are you doing for the Hogsmead Weekend?"

She ignored his attempts and continued. "I mean is he in a relationship with anyone?"

"Al?! No!" James, Fred and DJ started laughing.

"He's never even had a girlfriend!" DJ giggled.

"He's never even been kissed by a girl, unless you count his mum!" Fred said causing the three of them roar with laugher. Sarah, however, suddenly looked like she had just found a kitten.

"That's so cute!" This shut James and his friends up pretty quickly.

"Huh?!" Fred asked.

"Listen, could you ask him who he's going to Hogsmead with?" She asked James in all seriousness.

"He's not going with anyone." Rose suddenly blurted. She, like the rest of the table, had been listening.

Scorpius suddenly realized what Rose was trying to do. "But I'm sure he has someone in mind!" He hissed and gave her a cautious look.

"It's about time he got over her!" Rose whispered back.

"He's not going to get over her!"

"Alright, thanks James." Sarah said before returning to the Hufflepuff table.

James, Fred and DJ looked like they had just been handed the most difficult spell in the world as homework. They simply couldn't comprehend that any woman in their right mind would find Albus attractive.

At the same time, outside the main hall, Albus and Aurora walked casually out into the grounds.

"So, how are you feeling?" She asked.

"Super. You?"

"I'm fine."

This was awkwardness on a level that Albus hated.

"Did I miss anything interesting?" He asked.

"Oh, not really." She said quickly. Neither of them seemed to be able to say what they wanted to.

_Screw it!_ "So, Lynx is an Animagus!" He blurted.

Aurora stopped, looking horrified. "Who told you about that?!" She demanded.

"I could smell it on her. She smells like a cat." Albus admitted. He could indeed smell it on her but thought it best to leave the Bobs out of the situation.

"Look, don't tell anyone alright!"

"I'm not going to, but you know it's a pretty steep punishment for not registering yourself." Albus warned.

"She's going to, just not yet. And don't tell her that you know! Trust me, a pissed off 380 pound white tiger is not something you want to deal with!" Aurora said quickly.

"White Tiger?" Albus was extremely impressed. "I thought that she would be a Lynx…you know, like her name."

"It doesn't work like that." Aurora sighed. She took a breath. "Albus, I don't want us to fight anymore."

"Neither do I."

"But, no offense, every time we try and talk, the conversation moves onto Cody and then we start shouting and then -"

"Yeah, well, I like to think that I've matured since then." Albus smiled. Aurora couldn't help but chuckle. "I don't like fighting with you Aurora and so I'm not going to do it anymore. I'm not gonna try and break you and Cody up either. I just want you to be happy." He said honestly. "I just wish, you could be happy with me."

Aurora was becoming uncomfortable. She had a slight sadness in her eyes.

"But, if we can't…look, just try not to snog him when I'm around okay!" He said quickly. He wanted this to be a painless as possible, at least for her.

"I want you to be happy as well Albus." Her voice was so soft and warm, it could have melted butter.

Albus smiled. "Well, I've got a few…other things going for me at the moment." _Power to control Gravity being one of them…Shit!_

Albus suddenly remembered that Aurora was a Legilimens with a slightly unnerving habit of looking into peoples minds without them knowing. He immediately tried to lock off his mind, envisioning a gigantic brick wall around his thoughts.

For some reason, at that exact moment, the strange white light that he saw when he was dead flashed into his mind. The door made of light.

"Aurora, could you just tell me one thing…" He asked. He had no idea why this question had suddenly jumped into his brain and more importantly why he was actually about to ask it.

She nodded.

"Last year…right after you put the cloak on and escaped the head's office…did you…did you kiss me?" He blurted the last part.

She didn't answer straight away. She simply looked at him. There was something going on behind those wolf eyes of hers, but he just couldn't place it.

"No Albus. I didn't kiss you." She said firmly.

Albus felt as though he had been punch in the gut. He dipped his head slightly trying not to show his pain. "Nah, I…I thought I might have imagined it…" He sighed.

Aurora placed her hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye.

"Listen, if you need anything. I'm always here to help." She smiled.

"Thanks." Something clicked inside Al's head. "Err…I just gotta go talk to the headmaster."

Without another word he began walking back towards the entrance.

"Albus," She called back. "I like the new look. I think some of the other girls like it too." She smiled.

"Oh, err, thanks." Al said quickly before leaving. He didn't see the smile fade from her face and turn into sigh of sadness. She had heard the other girls around school talking about him. She knew it was her turn to watch feel the pain of watching someone you want so badly be with someone else.

Albus walked straight past the Gryffindor table and up to the teachers table at the end of the hall. Professor Tannis was enjoying his breakfast whilst scanning over the Daily Prophet. Next to him was Professor Arken and then Professor Longbottom.

"Hi Albus, how are you feeling?" Neville asked.

"Oh, err, great thanks." Albus turned to the headmaster. "Professor, remember that, err, private project I was going to work on?"

"Yes." Tannis said without even looking up. Albus was so glad that he was willing to keep up the act in front of the other teachers.

"Well, it's proving a little more difficult than before and I was wondering if I could, maybe, have an…assistant. One of the house elves maybe?"

"We don't allow House elves to help with student work Mr. Potter," Professor Arken spoke up. "Whether they be private projects or not."

"I'm afraid that Professor Arken is correct Albus. It would be considered cheating." Tannis agreed.

"Oh come on Triennia. How's Al ever going to make up the work he's missed all by him self. We're luckily he even still able to attend Hogwarts." Professor Longbottom objected.

"I won't let the house elves help me with anything except my private work. How's that?" Albus asked with a smile.

Both Professor Longbottom and Professor Arken looked to the headmaster.

Tannis looked up at him and nodded. "Nook."

POP! The House Elf Nook appeared right next to Albus. "Master calls and Nook answers." He said happily.

"Nook, perhaps you would be good enough to assist Mr. Potter in a special project he is working on?" Tannis asked.

"Nook would be delighted to serve Master Potter!" The house elf was barely able to contain his excitement.

"Excellent. There you are Mr. Potter." Tannis went back to his newspaper. Neville beamed at him and Albus smiled back.

"What is this project your working on Mr. Potter?" Professor Arken asked.

"Oh, well…to be honest, it's only in the experimental stages at the moment and…it's kind of a surprise, so I really don't want to…you know…divulge…" Albus spluttered.

"Very well, I look forward to it. I hope it's not going to impede your class work though." She warned.

"Oh, defiantly not." He smiled knowing that testing his powers would only be done at night when the rest of the school was fast asleep.

"Oh and Albus, those books you asked for arrived this morning. I had them sent to your room." Tannis said casually.

Albus remembered to play along. "Thank you sir."

============ HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK -NOVEMBER 18TH - 2020 A.D. ============

As soon as the sun was down, the testing recommenced. Albus was up in his room with Nook and the Quick Quotes Quill at the ready. He was sitting at a desk with his left hand laid out on the wood and a hammer in his right. The Books Tannis had spoken about were several Muggle journals on Physics, Gravity and even one on the many sectors of the sky. Now that they weren't out of reach anymore, Tannis clearly thought it was a good idea for Albus to know about them.

There was also an interesting book on Muggle aircraft. Albus made a mental note to give it to his grandfather for Christmas. He had flicked through a few of the pages of one of the Gravity journals and was pretty sure he knew how a possible gravity shield would work.

"But master! Nook cannot lie to teachers!" Nook was a nervous wreck. His enthusiasm towards helping Albus had been shattered the moment Albus told him what they would be doing and more importantly that he was sworn to secrecy.

"I'm not asking you to lie to teachers Nook, I'm simply saying that you should only talk to Professor Tannis about this stuff. If any other teachers ask, just tell them to ask him."

"But that is withholding information master!"

"It's being cautious. That's why your not allowed to speak to any other students about this either." Albus assured.

"Nook can keep secrets from students master but not from teachers! What if they free Nook as punishment?!" He looked like he was about to faint at the prospect.

"They won't free you unless you want to be freed Nook, calm down."

"But master has a House Elf! A wonderful heroic house elf! Would master not be better using him for this task?"

"Kreacher would tell my dad, and my family really isn't ready to know about this stuff yet."

"But master -"

"Nook! You agreed to help me, you not…refusing to serve…are you?" Albus added as much fake shock as possible.

Nook almost did pass out at that point. "N-Nook will s-serve. Nook will serve."

"Good." He turned his attention back to his left hand. "Shield Test mark one. Now if I'm right, reversing the gravitational field around my hand, it should be enough to stop the hammer from connecting." The quill scribbled down his words as Nook stood looking worried.

Albus took a breath. "Test commencing."

He brought the hammer down on his hand with a crushing blow. It took less than a heart beat for him to realize that the shield had failed as pain ripped through his hand. "AHHH!"

He dropped the hammer and fell to the floor clutching his left hand and swearing loudly.

Nook simply watched on until he realized that the Quill was jotting down all of his swear words as well.

"Oh err, Shield ineffective." Nook said quickly. The quill scribbled out the swear words and replaced them with that simple line.

Albus had to wait a full 20 minutes with his hand in a bowl of ice before he decided to try it again. Luckily no bones were broken but a horrible bruise had already started to form.

He had the bruised hand laid out on the table again while shakily gripping the hammer with his right. He seemed a lot less enthusiastic to continue the test this time.

"S-Shield test mark two. I'm going to increase the power of the shield this time and pray that it works."

Nook and the Quill waited nervously.

"T-Test commencing…" Albus again smashed the hammer down.

This time he had reversed gravity a little too much. The shield was so strong the hammer bounced back and smacked him straight in the head. Albus fell backwards off the chair, out cold.

For a second Nook and the quill simply stared at him. "Err…shield needs improvement…" Nook said quietly.

The quill scribbled it down.

Albus' eyes shot open. There was water beneath his face and hard stone. Everywhere he could here the sound of running water. It was humid and dark. There was a strange buzzing sound and a flicker of light. He didn't move but looked around as best he could.

A busted street lamp. That's where the noise and flickering light was coming from.

He began to sit up when suddenly a horrible biting pain hit him. His stomach.

He looked down to see blood. There were two holes in his belly. Like someone had literally ripped his skin away. It cause him to cramp and moan in pain. He clutched his hands over the wound and looked around again.

There was a river right next to the street he was on. A small shop with the windows blasted out. Next to it was an old red car with a huge dent in the door.

He scanned the area again and that's when he saw it.

A prone figure lying on the ground a few feet away from him. A woman. A woman with long jet black hair. There was blood all around her.

Albus pulled himself towards her.

He very slowly moved her head to the side.

It was Aurora.

The entire left side of her face had been blasted off. Bone and blood were all that remained. Her eye seemed undamaged but her ear was mangled and blood was pouring from her would.

"NO!" Albus tried to feel for a pulse but didn't know where exactly to find it. "NO! Aurora! Come on baby! Wake up! Breath!"

She was lifeless. Her beauty destroyed. Her angelic like existence pulverized and Albus had no idea why.

He screamed as loud as his lungs would allow. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

Suddenly he bolted up right!

Nook was looking down at him with fear in his eyes.

"Master, are you alight?"

Albus could speak, his eyes were wide with terror. No wounds in his belly. His breathing was heavy and the pain from his head was overshadowed by the terror in his heart. What just happened?


	9. The Minds the Limit

=========================== THE MINDS THE LIMIT ==========================

=========== OUTSIDE PETHAM - ENGLAND - UK - JANUARY 6TH - 2006 A.D. ===========

Harry walked in immediately dropping his keys on the kitchen table and listening out for the sound of his 19 month old son. The House appeared empty. Then again, they had recently increased the size of Potter Manor in anticipation for the new addition to the household so even when it was full it seemed empty.

Harry was in a great mood. Rumors had been flying around the office all day that he was being considered for promotion.

_Harry Potter - Auror Department head._

He was already envisioning the small wooden plaque that would sit neatly on his desk or on the door to his office. He couldn't help smiling.

He headed upstairs to find his wife sitting in the newly built nursery. She was just as excited as Harry, but not about his possible promotion.

"Hey beautiful." Harry said softly from the doorway.

"Hey handsome," Ginny smiled. "good day?"

"You could say that." He walked over and kissed her on the forehead and then on the lips. "People seem to think that I'm next in line for the head of the department…where's James?"

"That's brilliant!" She kissed him again. "Mum offered to take him off my hands for a bit. He's at the burrow." She smiled at him. "I suppose that means they're going to be dumping more work on your shoulders then?"

"Yeah, but that's going to have to wait. I have a prior appointment with this young man." He crouched down and began gently kissing her swollen belly.

"Oh! Did you feel that?!" She said excitedly. Her unborn son was kicking gently again the wall of her stomach.

"Someone's excited." Harry laughed.

"I think he just wants out." Ginny smiled.

Harry kissed her belly again. "I can't wait to meet you!" Albus kicked again causing Ginny to laugh.

"I think he's looking forward to it as well."

"I'm just hoping that he's got your eye-sight." He was telling the truth.

"AHAHH!" Ginny screamed in pain, grabbing hold of her stomach.

"Ginny! Are you alright?! What's going on?!" Harry was frantic.

"I Don't know, it jus -AHHHHH!" Agony bit into her stomach again. Harry looked down to see blood dripping from between her legs. Something was terribly wrong.

============== ST. MUNGO'S - LONDON - UK - JANUARY 6TH - 2006 A.D. ==============

Harry didn't need to be told what to do. He had gotten his wife to St. Mungo's within 5 minutes. They had been met by several maternity doctors/healers and medi-witches within seconds.

It was the first time that Harry was actually happy to receive special treatment.

"What's happening?! I'm not due until the 1st!" Ginny yelled as pain took hold of her stomach again.

"Mr. Potter you need to wait here!" One of the medi-witch said.

"No, I'm going with my wife!"

"Mr. Potter we need to examine her now and we can have you getting in the way! I promise we'll keep you updated." The witch reiterated.

Harry watched as his wife was levitated away on a gurney. "Fine! Just help her!" He felt so useless. He wanted to help. Suddenly she was gone as a pair of double doors closed. A few healers and witches ran through the doors following the others but then it was just Harry. Standing in a small intersection that connected the waiting room to the rest of the hospital.

He turned around to see every single person in the waiting room staring up at him with wide eyes. A few of them had begun whispering to each other.

"Potter?"

Harry span around to see Draco Malfoy walking towards him. He was wearing lime-green overalls, same as the other healers.

"Malfoy? What are you doing here?"

"I'm taking my residency here!" He spat. "What are you doing here?"

"S-Somthings wrong with Ginny." Harry's voice shook.

On any normal day Malfoy would have reveled in Harry's misery but he knew the Ginny was 8 months pregnant. The kid didn't deserve to get hurt.

The double doors burst open and an Asian Healer came walking towards Harry. The name on his jacket said Tannis.

"Mr. Potter." He said calmly.

"What's wrong with my wife?"

"Her placenta has separated from her uterus and she's bleeding internally. We have to operate immediately or we risk losing them both." Harry's heart hit the roof of his mouth. "Mr. Potter…we have to perform a C-section." Tannis said quickly.

"What?! What is that?!" Harry was going out of his mind.

"Your wife cannot give birth by herself. We have to open her stomach and remove the baby."

Harry didn't even have time to look shocked. "Do you need me to assist?" Draco asked suddenly. Whether it was his job or simply out of some impulse of kindness, he actually wanted to help.

"How many have you done?" asked Tannis.

"This'll be number three."

"Scrub up." Tanns said and without another word, Draco shot off through the double doors.

"What's going to happen? I mean Ginny wasn't suppose to give birth until the 1st of February, what going -"

"Your wife and child will be fine. If we operate quickly there won't be any lasting damage. There won't even be a scar. I promise. Now I need you to wait here, a medi-witch will be along soon to ask you a few questions…" Tannis explained. His eyes were reassuring, as if it had already been decided that he wasn't going to fail. "…It's going to be alright Harry…"

Harry had no choice. He wasn't a doctor, he couldn't help her. It was an alien concept to him. Not being able to help, but it was happening. All he could do now, was pray.

============ HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - NOVEMBER 19TH - 2020 A.D. ===========

Rose and Scorpius were kissing wildly on the couch of the empty Gryffindor common room. His hands groped, unimpeded, at her sides until they reached the curve of her arse. She groaned lightly as Scorpius squeezed. One of her hands was finding it's way towards the belt line of his trousers.

They were both kissing so fiercely that they were breathing heavily through their noses. But, for some reason, Scorpius still felt the urge to stop. Not because of lack of oxygen or because they were in the middle of the common room, but because, once again, something didn't feel right.

She moved her hand across and groped his crotch.

Alarm bells suddenly sounded in Scorpius's ears. He broke away from her lips. "Rose, wait!" He said pulling her hand away.

"What?" She smiled.

"We're in the middle of the common room…anyone could walk in!"

"Exactly!" She smiled deviously and moved her hand towards his crotch again.

"Rose!" He said pulling her hand away again. This time, more forcefully.

"Your always telling me to stop worrying! You try it for a change!" She laughed, thinking it was a joke.

She lent in and kissed him again. Before Scorpius knew it, he had given into her lips again and was now fondling her tongue with his. Again her hands move from his chest, down his stomach and towards his belt buckle and zipper. She stopped kissing his lips and started planting little kisses on his check, then moved up to his ear and began tonguing and sucking his lobe. He stopped only to whisper in his ear.

"Let's go somewhere more private…"

"Umm…where…I mean…we…" Scorpius spluttered nervously.

"Where ever we can't be interrupted." She smiled with a seductive look in her eye. "Where ever we can make love…" She began kissing his neck.

Scorpius panicked. He didn't know what to do.

He hadn't even realized that he had just pushed Rose off of him and onto the floor. "Ow! Scorpius!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…Rose…I…I-I can't do this!" He spluttered.

"What?" Rose's angry face suddenly shifted into something much worse. A pale dread had washed over her and she seemed to be getting slightly dizzy. "You…don't…want me." She whimpered.

"NO! Rosey! Of course I want you, just not…yet." For some reason the proper explanation for this had been thrown into a blender with everything not to say.

She didn't speak. For the first time in her life, Rose was unable to comprehend something.

"I'm…just not ready…for that…you know…" Scorpius tried. He knew exactly how much he had just screwed up and a why of fixing was lost on him.

"Okay." She said quietly whilst picking herself off the floor. "I'm going to go for a walk." Her voice was hollow and emotionless.

"No, Rosey wait! I need to explain!"

"I understand." She drifted over to the portal entrance as disappeared.

Scorpius clamped his hands over his head and yelled. He looked down at his own crotch. "JUST SHAG HER ALREADY! IT'S WHAT YOUR THERE FOR!"

"You know…" He spun around to see Lily Potter at the bottom of the stairs that lead to the girl's dorms. "All men look crazy when they talk to their own penises…still, I suppose it's better than talking to someone else's." She said simply.

Albus had been looking up to check on Aurora every few seconds. He couldn't help himself. Not after what he had seen while he was unconscious.

The whole scene felt so real it had actually made him feel ill. He looked over at her again.

She was chatting with Violet at the table directly across from him. They were staying quiet enough to make sure that the other students and librarian didn't here them, but Albus could hear every word. His enhanced senses were becoming very handy.

He probably would have been very interested and slightly aroused by the conversation if not for the feeling of foreboding that had taken over his entire body.

"What are you talking about? Your mother loves you!" Aurora said in a hushed tone.

"She's Roman Catholic! She would never stand for it! And dad's Irish!" Violet whispered back. Even though they were staying quiet, Albus could hear the worry in Violet's tone.

"She's your mother! She would never ask you to be miserable!"

"She wouldn't exactly be overjoyed either!"

"You should talk to her. Everyone knows about Scorpius and Rose and there okay…" Aurora attempted.

"Oh! Really! Scorpius almost got his hand blasted off and both their parents can't stand that they are together!"

"Okay, bad example."

Violet sighed and sank down into her chair.

"Well…you could always…talk to Lynx…" At those words Violet shot up looking angry.

"Why do you think I asked to talk to you! I need advice before I talk to her!"

"We'll I'm not sure what help I can be. I never been attracted to another woman so I really have no experience dealing with this stuff."

"I'm not attracted to her!" Violet hissed. Aurora simply raised her eyebrows. Violets denial vanished and she sighed again. "She's gorgeous!" She whined.

"Lynx fancies you! You fancy Lynx, traditionally the next thing that happens is -"

"It's one thing for two families that hate each other to get together, it's another when two woman get together! I mean…this is Hogwarts! Everyone would -"

"Who cares what everyone thinks!"

Albus's eye twitch. He couldn't believe that he just heard Aurora 'We can't' Lennox stay that.

If she doesn't care what people think then why in the hell is she going out with that prick Miller instead of me!

His train of thought was derailed by the familiar scent and arrival of Rose. Strangely, she shot straight past Albus without even saying hello and over to Violet and Aurora. She actually grabbed Aurora by the arm, pulled her up from the table and simple said "We need to talk!"

And with that Aurora was pulled out of the library by his frantic cousin.

Albus stewed over what Aurora had said for a few more seconds before realising that Violet was sitting alone, looking depressed. He got up, walked over to her and took a seat in front.

"Hey." Violet said lazily.

"Hi."

She noticed the rather large bruise on his forehead. "What happened to your head?"

"Oh…I err…walked into a door."

Violet sighed and slumped again.

"I don't know what your so depressed about! Your problems are easy to fix." Al huffed.

"If you think that then you don't know my problems." She said automatically.

"What? You can't decide whether or not to date the really hot chick! Oh yeah, life is really cruel to you!" He said sarcastically causing Violets eyes to go wide with shock. Albus simply smiled back.

"How did…I-I don't date woman!" She hissed while looking around to see if any other students had heard what she and Aurora were talking about.

"You don't date men either."

"Yes I do!"

"Name three guys that you've dated, wait what am I talking about, name one!"

Violet looked insulted and scandalized. Her mouth opened to speak but before the words could sound, Albus spoke again.

"You like Lynx! She likes you! Go. And. Tell. Her!"

"It's not that simple!"

"Yes it is!" Albus caught a whiff of there familiar feline scent. "And now is your chance." He turned to see Lynx strolling up to them.

Violet panicked. She and Lynx had bee best friends since the first year. Suddenly developing feelings for your best friend always rattles people. She started fumbling with a book to make it seem like she was busy.

"Hey, where's Aurora?" Lynx asked.

"Rose wanted to talk to her about something."

"Oh. We've got practice in a few minutes." Lynx smiled. "Looking forward to putting Slytherin down!"

"I'll bet. You and Violet work really well together. Your quite the _pair_." Violet knew what he was doing and she didn't like it.

"Thanks Al. I'm glad you don't mind that we whooped Gryffindor last year." Lynx smiled.

"Oh no I don't. James wasn't exactly thrilled. But then again, that _Guy_ can never compare to you _Girls_."

Violet was gripping the book harder but still remaining calm. Lynx seemed completely oblivious to the hints that Albus was sneaking out.

"I think you two could play for the Holyhead Harpies. It is after all a _Witches only_ team."

"Yeah?" Lynx's face lit up. "Maybe your mum could talk to them. Set up a meeting or something."

"Oh I doubt you two will need any help getting _together_." Violets eye twitched. Albus turned and smiled deviously at her. "Vi, wasn't there something you wanted to tell Lynx?"

She gritted her teeth and glared back at Albus. It was taking all of her willpower to stop herself from cursing Albus right then and there.

"It's not important." She forced out. "Why don't we go down to the pitch now. Aurora can meet us there." She said standing up.

"Sure." Lynx said happily. The two girls began walking out of the library. Before leaving Violet turn and with blood red fury in her eyes, mouthed _"I'm gonna cut your balls off!"_ to Albus.

He laughed to himself. After a few seconds, his mind quickly shot back to fear for Aurora's safety. He couldn't get that image out of his mind. Her, lying on the ground, blood everywhere…dead.

He had had these weird flashes before. Strange little moments when he saw something so vividly. And yet it was real. It hadn't happened…yet.

He knew he needed to be ready. He need to train himself to protect her. She had saved his life, now it was time to save hers.

He stood up and exited the Library.

As he walked down the corridor his ears picked up on Aurora's voice coming from the girl's toilet.

"Rose are you going to tell me what's up or just walk a hole in the floor."

Albus stopped and moved a little closer to the door. He listened carefully.

"It's…it's…it's…" Rose tried.

"It's?" Aurora repeated.

"Scorpius won't have sex with me!" Rose blurted.

For a second all Albus could hear was a dripping tap and the sound of someone, presumably Rose, pacing. He couldn't stop his mind from wondering. Suddenly the thought of hot, passionate sex with Aurora entered his mind. He started to feel slightly flush.

"Oh…I…aren't you a little young to be thinking about that?"

"That's what the therapist said!"

"The one you cursed?"

"YES!" Rose cried. "He was right! There's something wrong with the Weasley's! We have super powered libido's!"

"Rose…umm…I'm sure Scorpius does want to have sex with you but maybe he just wants to wait a bit." Aurora tried to calm her down.

"What if something happens to him again! What if he get's hurt! I keep seeing Al lying in that hospital bed and Scorpius…cut…what if we never get the chance to…"

"Of course, you'll get the chance! It's gonna be fine. It'll happen when you both ready. Scorpius just wants to wait a little while. Not all men are sex crazed loony's. Besides…it's why we were given the ability to pleasure ourselves."

The snap shot of Aurora fondling herself inside Albus's head was replaced by a picture of his cousin.

Albus winced and felt physically sick! _No! Bad! This is what you get for listening to lady bathroom talk!_

He ran as fast as he could from the door.

He tried as hard as he could to get that disgusting thought out of his mind.

He would need to stay focused. It was after all was going to be a busy night. He spent the rest of the day looking through the books on physics, especially air pressure and temperature and the many layers of the atmosphere.

============ HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - NOVEMBER 20TH - 2020 A.D. ============

As soon as the sun was down and the student curfew was up, Albus drifted down to the grounds, where his assistances were waiting. Albus had brought with him, a few pieces of parchment with some notes already written on them. A thermometer. A stop watch and a pair of Quidditch goggles.

Nook was once again looking terrified, while the quick quotes quill simply looked like it was waiting to dish out some criticism. Albus was busy strapping a thermometer to his arm. Since he had no way of measuring altitude, he had come up with the cleaver idea of measuring the air temperature around him. He would then be able to judge how high he could climb from those readings.

He had positioned in so it poked out of the side of his arm, so that the tip would remain outside the shield. It had a small red orb at one end and a slightly larger grey orb at the other. He had 'borrowed' it from the potions supply cupboard, a little earlier.

Once he was happy with the strap he was using to hold the thermometer to is arm, he got into position.

"Alright. Altitude test mark one. Now, I'm going to created a wide shield around my body which should contain the atmosphere around me. That should give me enough breathable air and stop the temperature from dropping too much." He checked the skies. It was a remarkably clear night, which he wasn't happy about since he was planning on using the clouds as some kind of height bearing.

"Now, the environment that I carry up with me won't last forever. I'll end up running out of oxygen after a while and then I'll lose consciousness, my shield will drop and if that happens I'll be turned into a human ice cube…so let's hope it doesn't." Albus said casually. Nook almost fainted as the quill simply repeated what was said on paper.

"Now you remember what your suppose to do if something goes wrong?"

"Nook is to alert Headmaster Tannis and only Headmaster Tannis!"

"That's right. Now I'm going to try and reach my vertical limit as quickly as possible so this shouldn't take too long. If I'm not back in say 30 minutes. You find Tannis and tell him what happened." Albus ordered.

Nook nodded nervously.

He put the goggles over his eyes. "Test commencing."

Albus blasted off. Seconds later the sonic boom erupted.

He looked down to see the massive castle shrink to the size of a beer can as he continued to climb. He looked at the thermometer. The smoke inside the grey orb swirled around until it formed a number. 18 degrees. He was climbing faster than he thought.

He could feel the shifting air pressure push against his shield. The cold air was beginning to seep in as well.

After a few seconds he looked at the thermometer again. 6 degrees.

He looked down again. He could now see both the east and west coasts of Scotland. _Higher!_ 1 Degree.

The air was beginning to freeze around him but he could take it. Albus was entering the stratosphere; 10 miles above the earth.

He focused a re-strengthened his shield. He could now see the entire British Isles, illuminated by millions and millions of tiny blinking lights that were actually buildings and homes. Then France, Spain, Germany and the rest of Europe.

He could see the curve of the earth and the suns horizon to his left. The build of pressure and temperature on his shield was immense. The end of the thermometer was frozen over with ice but it still worked. -30 degrees.

He was reaching his limit. He wasn't stupid enough to try and push any higher then was safe.

He looked up. The star had never been so clear. Looking back at him and blinking, almost like a round of applause from the heavens themselves. For a second Albus's mind went blank. It was so beautiful. Then, suddenly the door made of light shot through his mind again.

He dropped back and began falling towards the ground. Albus accelerated causing the UK, then Scotland, then the Castle to get bigger and bigger. At the last second he gave him self a sudden gravity burst back towards the skies causing him to slow to a crawl.

He leveled the fields around him before touching down right where he took off from.

"I tell ya, whoever said that the skies the limit, couldn't fly!" He laughed.

"Is Master alright?!" Nook asked anxiously.

"Master is brilliant!" Albus said removing the goggles and grabbing the parchment from under the quick quotes quill. His notes that he had made earlier had a temperature to height converter. He quickly worked it out. "Minus 30 is equal to…13.2 miles…70,000 feet! Holy Shit!"

He was ecstatic. He first believed he wouldn't be able to push the 50,000 mark.

"Good. I suppose master will be wanting Nook's assistance tomorrow night as well?" Nook asked slightly annoyed.

"Nope. We ain't finished tonight's tests!"

"More?!" Nook fretted. "But master doesn't need to do more. Master accomplished what he wanted."

"Master accomplished what he wanted in the Altitude test. Now it's time for the speed test."

"Speed test?!" Nook gulped.

"Yep! I'm going to see Father Christmas!" Albus smiled.

"Sir?"

"The North Pole Nook, that's where I'm flying to." He folded and pocketed the piece of parchment with his Altitude results on his and moved onto to a second piece. This also had a few notes already scribbled on it including a calculation for converting time into miles per hour and another for converting MPH into the Mark system.

He quickly scanned the notes again.

_Distance to North Pole from Hogwarts Castle - appox. 1630 Miles._

_770 MPH - Mark 0.8 - Sound barrier (Sonic Boom occurs at this threshold.)_

Below was a warning note written in red ink.

_DO NOT Attempt to reach this speed at sea level. Speed/Gravimetric wake WILL cause damage to anything caught in it. Recommend climbing to at least 20,000 feet before attempting horizontal acceleration. DON'T DO IT NEAR THE BLOODY CASTLE!_

"Okey Doky." Albus said allowing the quick quotes quill to position it's self above the parchment. "Speed test mark one. Now because I don't have anyone or anything waiting to stop the clock when I arrive at the North Pole, I'm going to fly the entire distance there and back and then we'll simply measure the time it took to travel 3260 miles."

He put the goggles back over his eyes. "I'll also be subtracting 30 seconds, which is about how long it will take me to climb to a safe height. So, your going to stop the clock the moment I get back and touch down." He handed the stop watch to Nook, who nodded.

"Alrighty. Here we go. Test commencing."

Albus again rocketed into the air and Nook started the stop watch. After a few seconds the area was rocked by another sonic boom. Albus was going to give it everything he had. He was confidant that there wouldn't be much, if any, air traffic at 20,000 feet. Most major aircraft stay at about 36,000 and the route to the north pole was exactly full of commuters.

He focuses his mind, strengthened his shield and soared with everything he had.

The ground below him seems to only be crawling past but in actual fact he was pushing 1200 MPH. He continued to accelerate. The shield bounce wind resistance off of him. He smiled.

_I never thought I would say this! But I LOVE FLYING!_

He was completely unaware that since he started his testing, he was being watched from the window of the headmasters office.

Aurora and Tannis had pulled up a ring side seat for this show.

"I don't understand it." She said.

"Add it to the list of things that we still have no clue about." Tannis retorted. "Even Sofia hasn't seen one this powerful.

"No, I don't mean his power."

Tannis looked interested.

"His behavior. He hasn't shown any signs of aggression or temptation towards mating. It's not normal…I mean it's not normal for them." Aurora sounded anxious.

"Well, he's still feeling out his abilities at the moment. Maybe they have simply kept his mind off it."

"No. Albus should be in full mating drive by now. I was expecting him to have left already!" She admitted.

"Maybe he has his sights set on some one already." Tannis hinted. Aurora looked at him as if to say 'Don't even go there!' "But your right," Tannis continued as if she had never glared at him. "All these differences, even from his own kind, are making me nervous."

"Me too."

"You know, we're going to have to tell him soon." Tannis warned.

"I know…just…we need to let him feel out his powers a bit more first. It's not good to throw so much at them at the same time or we might see some serious emotional outbursts!" Aurora sounded nervous.

"We have to tell him sometime Aurora. He's mastering his power far more quickly than they usually do. And if he's in a good mood now, then I don't think we should waste it…I think it's time."

Aurora sighed. Part of her would have been happy never telling Albus the truth. But the rest of her needed to be honest with him. This was always part of the plan, whether she liked it or not.

"Alright, I'll bring him up once he gets back." She sighed. Aurora and Tannis stayed up to see how Albus was progressing with his abilities. As the time ticked by she became more and more uncomfortable. She was afraid of him getting angry, she was afraid of him getting upset.

She was afraid that he would hate her.

It was another hour and five minutes before Albus returned only to leave another massive drag mark in the dirt from his slightly rushed landing. Nook stopped the clock the second his feet touched the ground.

He pulled the goggles off his face and ran over to see how he did. The clock was stopped at 1 hours 7 minutes and 12 seconds.

Huh, not bad…

"Okay, so if I add that to these calculations…" Albus began mumbling to himself as he started working out the math. "That's…divided by…minus…that's approximately…2900 miles per hour. Mark 3.9" A smile crept onto his face. "That's pretty fucking fast!"

A tiny voice whispered in his head. _I can beat that._

"You really need to work on your landings."

Albus froze. He had to have imagined it.

"Hagrid and Filch have been going mad trying to find out who's been leave massive skid marks in the ground." Aurora said casually.

Albus finally turned. And there she was, not the slightest bit surprised of what she has just seen and all the more beautiful for it.

_POP!_ Nook disappeared with the Quill and Parchment.

He made a pathetic attempt to lie. "I was just…exercising…"

"Flying must really take it out of you then."

"Flying? Don't be silly! You know I can't even stay on a broom - Oh fuck it! Alright! Fine! I can fly! I can manipulate gravity! I'm a freak! Ya Happy?!" Albus blurted.

"Your not a freak." She said simply. For some reason this lifted Albus heart to hear. She wasn't afraid of him. It was one thing that he had dreaded since waking up and finding that he was older. That Aurora might not care for him anymore.

"Do you want to know what you are?" Suddenly the reality of this came crashing down. She wasn't afraid of him because she already knew. She had known all along. "Come to the headmasters office. There's something I need to tell you."

He heard her heartbeat. It was pounding like mad inside her chest. She was scared and Albus knew, what ever this was about, it wasn't going to be pleasant.


	10. The Butterfly Effect

======================== THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT ==========================

========== OUTSIDE PETHAM - ENGLAND - UK - FEBRUARY 10TH - 2010 A.D. ==========

The doorbell sounded.

Harry was on his feet in seconds and heading towards it. He had been a little anxious about this visit all day and now that it was finally here, he was starting to sweat. He opened the door revealing the last thing he ever expected.

They said they were sending an expert. She couldn't have been more than 20 years old. She looked more like a model than a child psychologist. She had perfectly straight blond hair down to her shoulders, blue eyes and was wearing what looking like a very casual suit.

"Mr. Potter, please to meet you." She said holding out her hand.

"Err, yes, please to meet you miss…"

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of asking you to try and pronounce my last name. Just call me Sophia." She smiled sweetly and held out her hand.

He shook it quickly. "Oh, well thank you for coming."

"It's my pleasure." She said stepping inside the house.

Harry found it quite refreshing that she didn't come over all giddy and star struck like most new people he met.

"You have a lovely house Mr. Potter." She said whilst surveying the area.

"Oh, thank you. Yes we we're going to buy one in Godric's Hollow but err…"

"Too many memories?"

"Yes." Harry was becoming more and more aware that she in fact was a psychologist. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude but, how old are you?"

Sophia immediate started laughing. "I know, a lot of people ask that. I started working with children as soon as I finished Hogwarts. Trust me Mr. Potter, I have plenty of experience."

"Please, call me Harry."

"Alright then Harry, shall we?" She said quickly.

"Of course."

Harry led her through the house towards the garden. Before they reached it a young boy with blue and pink hair, with a few streaks of yellow at the back, ran up to Harry. The 12 year old Teddy Lupin was about to speak when he spotted Sofia.

"Who's she?" He asked immediately, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Teddy, this is Sophia. Sophia, this is Teddy Lupin." Harry smiled.

"Please to meet you Teddy." She held out her hand. Teddy hesitated but shook it eventually.

"Is she gonna fix Albus?" Teddy asked Harry.

Sophia laughed. "I'm certainly going to do my best."

"Teddy, why don't you and James go play up in your room." Harry advised. Teddy nodded happily and darted off down the corridor.

Harry and Sofia continued only a few more steps before they were once again stopped. "Ahh! This is the third re-write yet! Harry my editor really does have his head up his -" She stopped when she noticed the beautiful blond standing just behind Harry. "Hello."

"Babe, this is Sophia. She's here to speak to Albus." Harry said.

"Of course! Sorry. My mind is all over the place today. Ginny." They shook hands.

"I know. A friend of mine saw your last match before you retired. He said he's never seen so many goals scored!" Sofia said happily.

"Oh, thank you. Best to go out with a bang I suppose." Ginny blushed slightly. "Albus is out in the garden if you'd like I could -"

"Actually I was hoping I could ask you a few questions first." Sophia said suddenly.

Ginny was a little taken back. "Err, sure."

"Thank you."

"I'll go check on Teddy and James." Harry gave Ginny a kiss on the forehead before leaving.

Sophia took a seat at a small table and pulled out a notepad from her pocket. Ginny found it slightly surprising that she was also using a Muggle Biro instead of a quill. "These are just some standard questions Mrs. Potter -"

"Ginny, please."

"Alright, Ginny. These are just to cover a few things. Some of the questions are a little personnel but I do need honest answers." Sophia said in an office worker voice.

Ginny nodded. She didn't like intrusive people but she would endure it, if it meant helping her son.

"Now I understand that there were some complications during Albus's birth?" Sophia asked.

"Yes, Albus was premature and had to be delivered by C-section." Ginny replied.

"Were there any problems during your daughters birth?"

"No. The healers did a wonderful job of fixing me up after Albus. Lily was right on time." Ginny said happily.

"And where is Lily?"

"At my mothers. My friend had a little boy at the same time and she loves getting them together."

"I see." She scribbled down a few notes. "Were you taking any kind of illegal or prescription drugs whilst pregnant with Albus.?"

Ginny didn't like that she would even ask something like that but remained civil. "No, none."

"Did you sustain any injuries from Quidditch or any other activates after Albus was conceived?"

"No, I went on maternity leave as soon as I found out I was pregnant."

"Have you committed Adultery?" This one caught Ginny off guard. Her face turned red and anger shot into her mind.

"Excuse me?!"

"Have you had sex with anyone besides your husband?" Sophia remained calm and almost robotic.

"No! I haven't!" Ginny hissed. Sophia simply jotted the answer down.

"Have you ever had an STD?"

"What kind of bloody questions -"

"All of these things could have affected Albus while he was in your womb Ginny. I need to know." Sophia said still in her emotionless tone.

"Harry is the only man I have ever slept with and he has never given me anything!"

"Alright." She jotted it down. "Albus hasn't said a word since he was born, is that correct?"

"Yes…and he's…distant." Ginny sighed.

"Does he smile?" Sophia wasn't taking notes anymore. She was looking Ginny dead in the eye.

"No." Ginny felt sorrow creeping up from her stomach.

"Does he cry?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Does he like nature?"

Ginny's eyes narrowed. She got the distinct feeling that this woman knew way more than she was letting on.

"Yes he does. How do you -"

"I think it's time I spoke to Albus." She smiled and pocketed her notepad.

Ginny was still quite angry at Sophia for intruding in her private life but still agreed. Without a word said, she stood up and led Sophia out into the garden.

It wasn't hard to spot Albus. He was sitting next to a patch of large purple flowers. He seemed completely absorbed in there elegance. He had his fingers stretched with the tips lightly brushing again stems. He was ignoring everything around but the sound, smell and beautiful for the nature around him.

Ginny began leading Sophia over to him but she was stopped.

"It's best if I talk to him alone." Sophia said.

Ginny felt slightly unnerved by this but nodded and headed back towards the house. She had no intention of leaving her alone with her son however. She made her way a window where she could keep an eye on them.

Sophia continued over to Albus. When she was close enough she saw that he had a tiny caterpillar slowly crawling across his finger. She knelt down beside him.

"Hello Albus. My name is Sophia." She said softly. Albus looked at her with a blank expression for a few seconds before turning back to the caterpillar.

"He's beautiful. Does he have a name?" She asked.

Albus shook his head.

"Maybe he isn't ready for a name just yet." She smiled. "He's just like you."

Albus turned and looked at her.

"You see him crawling there," Albus looked down to see the caterpillar making its way across his hand. "That's just like you. He will spend a lot of time crawling around. Having to do things the hard way. Facing the dangers that nature has set up for him. And then one day he'll go into a cocoon. And when he comes out, he'll be a beautiful butterfly and a whole new world will open up for him." She spoke as if she was telling a bed time story.

Albus very gently stroked the top of the caterpillar.

"See Albus, your crawling at the moment. But one day, you'll change and then you'll fly." She smiled.

Albus looked her in the eye again.

"I know you can speak Albus," She kept her soft assuring tone. Albus looked surprised. "I know you like listening. Your listening out for something and you don't know what it is. I know you don't want to speak in case you miss it. But it's okay to talk Albus. Your not going to miss it. Because when it speaks to you, nothing else matters and it will only speak to you."

Albus' eye were begging for more.

"But, I'm afraid your going to have to wait a little longer before it'll speak to you. You have a little more crawling to do first. And it's okay to speak when your crawling. It makes the journey more fun." She smiled.

Albus, ever so carefully, picked up the caterpillar and placed it on the petals of one of the purple flowers.

"A friend of mine tells me that you are going to be a beautiful butterfly someday. And when you are, we'll meet again and I look forward to that. But until that day, keep crawling Albus." She smiled and gave him a very gentle kiss on the cheek before heading back to the house.

Albus watched her every step as she walked away.

As she re-entered the house she was immediately met by Ginny who actually looked quite irate. "Well?" She demanded.

"There's nothing wrong with your son. Thank you for your time." Sophia said power walking straight past Ginny and towards the front door.

"What?! Hey! What's do you mean he's -" She was cut off by the sound of the front door slamming.

Ginny couldn't believe what had just happened. She was fuming. She actually wanted to pick something up and break it!

"Mummy." A shy, humble voice suddenly snapped her out of her anger.

She turned slowly to see Albus standing behind her smiling. "I love you." He said.

Ginny was in shock. It was the first time she had ever heard her sons voice. She knelt down in front of him with hope in her eyes. "Say that again?" She breathed.

"I love you mummy." He smiled.

"Mummy loves you too baby! Mummy loves you!" She embraced him as if she hadn't seen him in months.

============ HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - NOVEMBER 20TH - 2020 A.D. ============

Albus was staring into space. His mind had been completely over loaded by what they had just told him. No one had said a word in over five minutes. Tannis was standing quietly next to his desk. Aurora was next to him. She couldn't even look at Albus.

"I never wanted to lie to you Albus." Aurora's voice broke. He ignored it.

He was an Anomaly. It was the reason for everything. Why he was never able to properly connect with his family. Why he couldn't fly a boom. Why he could use magic. And worst of all, why he met Aurora.

They're entire friendship was a lie. She was a lie.

"Please say something." She whimpered.

"So…that's why you gave me my own room?" He asked absently and without looking.

"Yes, we thought it best. Anomalies can be quite territorial after they come through their cycle." Tannis explained.

Albus simply nodded. His mind was retracing everything he had ever said to Aurora. Everything she had ever said to him was lie. It was just about protecting him. Never caring for him.

He wasn't her friend. He was her assignment. And what about Scorpius and Rose? They had kept it a secret from him as well. True they only found out a day after he went into his maturing cycle but they still lied to him. Just like everyone else.

The headmaster that he thought he could be completely honest with. His own cousin and friend. The love of his life…

She's not the love of your life! That girl was an illusion! A trick used to spy on you!

Albus stood up suddenly. He hated this. Hated the room, these people, this school! He needed to get out of there. Albus began storming towards the exit.

"Albus wait! Please!" Aurora said following after him. He ignored her again.

He shot up the stairs and into the corridor, passing the gargoyles.

"Albus! I'm sorry!" She cried. "Please talk to me!"

Albus span around and glared at her with icy cold eyes. "Talk to who?! I don't even know who you are!"

"It's me! It's Aurora!" Tears were beginning to show in her eyes.

"Aurora was a lie! Our friendship was a LIE!" Albus roared.

"No it wasn't! It was real! I never wanted to lie to you Albus! I swear! It was the only way!" She pleaded.

"And didn't trust me enough to actually tell me the truth!"

"I wanted to! I did! But everything got so screwed up! With Lithgo and then… I'm sorry!"

Albus took a step closer. He was right in her face. Close enough to kiss her. "Was anything about you real?" His words cut through her like a knife.

"It was all real! I'm still me! I came here to protect you Albus! I never meant to hurt you!" Tears were now falling freely down her face.

"We'll if this is what you do to someone you don't mean to hurt I would hate to see what you could so to the poor bastard that you actually do want to hurt!" That stung her.

"I never expected to have friends at this school! But then you showed up! And it was amazing! And I kept telling my self, don't get too close! Don't be his friend! I tried so hard not to get attached to you but I couldn't help it!" She was now physically crying. Weeping like he never imagined her capable of doing. "I'm so sorry! Please…please…"

He wanted so badly to believe that she actually liked him. But he couldn't. He couldn't tell whether or not what she was saying was real or just more lies. She lies so well, no one could tell. Lynx, Violet, Cody, they had no idea. They didn't know that she was actually a 17 year old bodyguard! She had lied to everyone.

He wanted to…so badly…but he couldn't. He couldn't forgive her.

"Stay away from me Aurora!" His voice shuddered before he turned and stormed away.

As he walked he heard her break into a new set of tears. He heard her fall against the wall and slide down to the ground. She wept like never before.

Everything inside him told him to turn around. Go back and forgive her. But he didn't. He carried on walking. He walked all the way up to his room and sat in the darkness, wishing he could tear his own heart out and stop the pain somehow.

Then the answer came to him in a single second.

_I need a drink!_

Scorpius and Rose were waiting outside the Ravenclaw portal. Violet had come and found them at breakfast and explained that Aurora had come in very early that morning, crying her eyes our and was now refusing to leave the dorm. She wouldn't tell Violet what was wrong but as soon as this was repeated to Scorpius and Rose, they knew exactly what had happened.

Aurora had confessed to Albus and it really hadn't gone well.

Rose looked worried and guilty. She was starting to think that maybe she was a little hard on Aurora about lying to them. She was after all, doing it to protect Albus.

The portal opened and Violet walked out looking sombre.

"She won't come out. She won't even speak." Violet sounded worried.

"Ah shit!"

"What do you think happened?" Violet asked.

"I could take a guess," Rose sighed. "Albus wasn't at breakfast this morning either."

"I'll go talk to him." Scorpius said.

"Mal…be careful." Rose warned.

Scorpius gave her a quick kiss and headed towards the Dark Tower.

Before he even knocked on the door he caught the smell of Alcohol and Tobacco. He pushed the door open slowly.

It was pitch black and the sound of snoring had filled the room. Albus had never even made it to his bed last night. He was propped up in his chair with an all but empty bottle of whisky in his hands. There was an ashtray, full of cigarette butts next to him and he even had a tiny bit of drool coming from the corner of his mouth.

Scorpius sighed. He walked over to his, pulled the bottle from his hand and put it down on the desk. He walked across the room and opened the curtains. As soon as the light hit his face, Albus began to stir.

"Mmm, bad!" He was lazily trying to swat the sun away.

"It's almost 10 o'clock Al, wake up!" Scorpius said.

Upon hearing Scorpius voice, Albus opened his eyes. He let out what sounded like a low growl. He looked around and spotted what he was searching for. Sunglasses. He held out his hand and the glasses shot across the room and into his palm.

Scorpius looked shocked. He had never seen Albus actually use his power in a non-life threatening situation before.

"Oh what? That surprises you? Did Aurora forget to fill you in on few thing?" Albus scowled standing up. He walked over to a small plastic bag sat next to his bed and pulled out a large bottle of diet Cola. He took a few chugs to quench his thirst. His head was pounding and he felt slightly ill.

_So this is a hangover…_

"She said you had an ability, she said it was like a shockwave or a -"

"Gravity."

"Huh?"

"I can manipulate Gravity. Would have thought she would have shared that with you. I mean that's what mates do isn't it! Be honest with each other?" He growled.

"Me and Roses wanted to tell you -"

"Then why didn't you?" Albus snapped.

"Aurora said she wanted to be the one. She's in a right state you know. She won't come out of the Ravenclaw dorm!" Scorpius tried.

"Oh no! Stop the Prophet!" Albus mocked with extra sarcasm.

"What happened? Last night, I mean."

"Oh, she very politely explained that our friendship and her entire existence at Hogwarts was a big pile of steaming horse shit and then she said sorry!" Albus scathed.

"You know she's been protecting you?" Scorpius shot back.

"Yeah! Shame there was no one around to protect me from her!"

"It wasn't all bullshit Al! She really does care for you!"

"She's got a funny way of showing it!" Albus huffed, taking another swig of Cola.

"Oh come on! What was she suppose to do, walk up to you before the sorting and say 'Hey, I'm Aurora, I'm here to protect you against the dangerous lunatics that are coming to kill you because you're the next stage in evolution. Good luck with your sorting!'" Scorpius received a glare for that one.

"At least it would have been real!"

"Well look how your acting now! No wonder she didn't want to tell you!"

"I'm starting to wish she never had!"

"Al this has hurt her just as much as you! You think she would be sitting in her dorm crying her eyes out if she was faking it?!"

Albus couldn't find a retort for that one. Scorpius had a point. Whether she was lying or telling the truth, Aurora never showed weakness to anyone. If she really is crying and refusing to leave her dorm, then maybe she truly was sorry for lying to him.

Albus could feel a twinge of guilt creeping up inside him. She begged him to forgive her and he just walked away.

"Look, we're already late for Potions! Why don't you go and see her afterwards. Talk to her."

"I ain't going to potions." He grumbled.

Scorpius sighed. "Al, if you start skipping lessons, everyone is gonna know that something is up. Aurora said you have to keep your head down."

"I don't give a shit."

"They'll start asking questions! Hell, they may even try and stick you back in therapy! It'll sure as hell make people wonder why your so different! Don't you care about that?!"

"I'M DONE CARING!" Albus roared causing his head to hurt more. "Everything I care about just turned against me!"

Scorpius was stunned. He'd never heard Albus talk like this before. He knew Albus was being stupid but he also knew he wouldn't be able to break through his stubborn streak.

"Fine." Scorpius said quietly. "If your determined to see everyone that cares about as the enemy then I'll leave you to it."

"You do that!" Albus snapped back immediately.

Scorpius sighed and headed for the door leaving Albus to stew in his own anger.

Albus didn't come out of his room for another 2 hours. And the only reason that he was now sitting in the empty great hall was because he had run out of Cola. Unfortunately the Hogwarts kitchens didn't stock it so he had to settle for orange juice. He was reading a copy of that mornings Prophet.

His older face was plastered all over the front page with the headline: _FREAK AGING DISORDER?_

He wasn't surprised. It was only a matter of time before the Prophet broke the story about him. Someone had managed to snap a picture of him when he wasn't looking. Luckily the picture wasn't very good. His face was blurred and they only got his left side.

Albus Severus Potter is well on the way to becoming as famous as his father. Not through acts of extraordinary bravery but through being the first person to be diagnosed with a strange new illness. This paper can exclusively report that Albus Potter has aged over 5 years in as many days and now has the appearance of a 20 year old.

It has also been reported that he has returned to Hogwarts to continue his education, however, many healers believe that this was a serious mistake. One spokes-wizards commented: "It has not been proven that Albus's condition isn't contagious and there is a very good chance that he could be a danger to the general public."

He slammed the paper down on the table.

Wonderful! Now everyone is going to think I'm some kind of bloody plague victim! What else can go wrong today!

"POTTER!" Violet Finnigan screamed and began storming towards him.

Albus looked up towards the heavens as if he might see God holding onto the ceiling of the great hall. Why are you doing this to me?

"You are going to go and apologies to Aurora right now!" She demanded.

"I don't think so."

"She's a mess! You really hurt her Albus!" Violet growled.

"I hurt her! You don't have a bloody clue do you?!" Albus stood up and got in Violets face.

"I know I've never seen her this upset before! You did that to her!"

"Yeah! Why don't you go and ask her what she did to me?!"

"Oh what?! Risked being sent to Azkaban for altering magical documents just so that she could protect your ungrateful arse?" Violet shot back instantly.

"No she - what?" Albus suddenly clicked it. "She told you?"

"Yes! And you are the only one selfish enough not to realize that everything she has been doing was for you!"

"She lied to me for over 3 years!"

"You didn't even know her until last year! And even then she wasn't suppose to be your friend at all! Your family has been looking for a reason to get her kicked out of here ever since she turned up! What do you think they would do if they found out that she lied to get in here in the first place?! Don't you have any idea what kind of risks she is taking?!"

That guilty feeling had come back with a vengeance. Albus felt ill.

"You really can't se how much she cares for you can you?" Violet was actually shocked at how blind Albus was being.

He wanted to speak but every word that entered his head somehow didn't feel right.

"She should have told me…" Albus said weakly.

"She was afraid that you would act just like you are now!" Violet huffed.

After a few seconds Albus finally caved. "Fine…I'll talk to her."

"Good! Better do it fast. Lynx is looking for you." Violet warned.

_Oh wonderful! _

Lynx - there was a reason that most of the people at Hogwarts would do just about anything to avoid a confrontation with her. Poor Danny Mink still had a few moments where he thought he was a 6 year old girl.

Albus slowly made his way towards the Ravenclaw tower. As he walked he wondered what he would say or if he would even be able to speak. Would he get angry again or would he just freeze up?

"Albus." A soft voice from behind him said. He turned.

At the very last second Albus managed to raise a shield over his face which blocked Lynx's deadly right hook from connecting. He back up to see the extremely terrifying, red faced, Ravenclaw beater.

"Drop your shield and let me punch you!" She roared.

"Not a fuckin' chance!" He said just as Scorpius ran up behind her, out of breath.

"I said don't kill him!" Scorpius breathed.

"I'm not gonna kill him, I'm just gonna break his arms!" She growled.

"You know I was actually on my way to talk to Aurora!" Albus snapped.

"You think I'm gonna let you talk to her again?!" Lynx hissed.

"Let's just calm down! Both of you!" Scorpius tried just as Lynx threw another punch at Albus's face. Her fist bounced off again leaving no damage to Albus.

"Oh yeah! She's nice and calm!" Albus said with mock sarcasm.

"Lynx! Stop making him use his power in the middle of the damn corridor! If somebody sees -"

"Then tell him to drop the fuckin' shield and let me punch him!" She spat.

"Ahh! Is the poor whittle kitty unable to skwach me?" Albus mocked in a baby voice.

Lynx suddenly stopped looking shocked. She needed a second to register what Albus just did. Surely no-one was that stupid?

In a lightning flash, Lynx landed her foot right in Albus's balls. He wasn't quick enough to shield this time. His eyes budged as he crumpled to the floor clutching his crotch.

"Now I feel better." Lynx smiled sweetly before walking off. She looked like she had just aced a test.

Albus writhed around on the floor. He was in so much pain he couldn't even make a noise.

"Hey! You just attacked an endangered species! I'm telling' Greenpeace!" Scorpius called after her but was ignored.


	11. New Lives

=========================== NEW LIVES ===========================

============ HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - NOVEMBER 20TH - 2020 A.D. ============

Albus was sitting on the hospital bed that seemed to be reserved for him with a large ice pack over his balls. He could feel the Healing potion that Madam Pomfrey had given him, working it's way through his groan to repair the damage that Lynx's foot had caused.

She had actually managed to rupture his left testicle. Laura Pomfrey has assured him that the damage would be fixed in no time and with no long term effects to his reproductive organs. The pain had faded from all but his pride now.

Scorpius sat next to him in silence. He was well and truly at a loss of what to say. His mouth opened and closed several times before words finally came out.

"I tried to stop her…" He said weakly.

Albus said nothing.

"At least she didn't transform into…whatever her animagus form is."

"A tiger."

"What?"

"A white tiger. That's Lynx's animagus form. Apparently she's a natural." Albus said with serious annoyance in his voice.

"Oh…" A few seconds went by before Scorpius suddenly start laughing. "Kitty! I get it!" Scorpius finally understood the ironic nature of Albus's insult.

"I'm sorry." Albus grumbled quietly.

"Huh?" Scorpius honestly thought he imagined that.

"I'm sorry for getting angry at you earlier. I…" Albus stared into space while he tried to think of the words to explain. "Your sitting on top of the world, then suddenly, someone comes along a flips everything around on you. Black becomes white, up becomes down, happiness becomes…you get the idea. I just…I wanted someone to blame…and the only people that were around were the ones that have actually been trying to protect me. It just took me some time to realize how lucky I am that you guys were even there in the first place."

Albus didn't want to have to look Scorpius in the eye.

"We shouldn't have kept this from you for so long. But just because we did, doesn't mean we don't care about you. We're your friends Al." Scorpius assured.

For a few seconds nothing was said and both of them started to become more and more uncomfortable.

"Sorry, I'd hug you but I don't think my balls would allow it." Albus said breaking the tension.

They laughed.

"Handshake?" Scorpius suggested.

"Handshakes good." Albus laughed. They shook hands and continued to laugh.

Albus stopped laughing instantly. Someone had just entered the hospital wing. It was a scent that Albus recognized instantly.

_Lynx._

"I might not have the strength to defend myself this time so if she tries it again, you take the boot!" Albus begged.

"Fuck that!"

Lynx walked straight up to Albus looking extremely sheepish.

"I'm…I'm sorry for breaking your balls." She said tentatively. "Aurora told me not to hurt you, but I…I'm sorry."

Albus and Scorpius were stunned. The fact that they didn't speak seemed to make Lynx extremely anxious.

"Well say something!" She demanded. "Your making me uncomfortable!"

"I'm making you uncomfortable?" Albus said indicating the ice pack.

"You know what I mean!"

"Wanna come to Scorpius's party?" Albus said quickly.

"What party?" Asked Lynx.

"Yeah! What party?" Scorpius followed.

"Your birthday party." Albus said simply.

"Your having a birthday party?" Lynx asked Scorpius.

"I'm having a birthday party?" Scorpius repeated the question to Albus.

"I missed your birthday last year. True we didn't exactly know each other very well but, yes, you are having a party."

"When?" Lynx asked.

"December 13th"

Scorpius was about to say something but couldn't seem to follow through.

Lynx really didn't seem to understand what had just happened. She had gone there to apologies for destroyed Albus's genitals and would be leaving with an invite to Scorpius's party. "Umm…Okay."

"Invite Violet." Albus added causing a slight smile to curl in the corner of Lynx's mouth.

"Okay." She smiled.

"Hey! I thought this was my party! Aren't I suppose to be doing the inviting?" Scorpius interjected.

"Shh, it's a surprise party, your not suppose to know!"

"Surprise." Lynx smiled and began heading for the exit.

"Lynx…" Albus called back. "Invite Aurora and…and tell her to bring Cody." He made no attempt to hide the effort that it had just taken him to force that out.

"I will," A light wave of pride fell over Lynx's face. "Thank you."

She left the hospital wing to deliver the good news to Violet and Aurora.

"That was good." Scorpius grinned.

"I think it's time a grew up a little…matured I mean."

"No, I mean it mate. That was a really cool thing you just did." He said with pride.

"No it wasn't. You wanna see something really cool?" Albus asked with a grin.

"Cooler than the whole shield thing?"

"Oh yes."

"Alright!"

Albus tried to stand but as soon as he did the pain returned to his testicles. He admitted defeat and sat back down. "Well, I'll show you later when…ah crap!"

Albus nodded towards the door.

Draco Malfoy was powering through the hospital wing and heading straight for Albus.

"Didn't I say don't do anything strenuous! What the hell is the matter with you Potter?" Draco snarled.

"Oh you know, I just missed having my balls crushed by an angry Ravenclaw so much, I just couldn't resist!" Albus laid on a heavy coating of sarcasm.

"Did you have anything to do with this?" Draco shot his son.

"Well I tried to stop it if that's what you mean?"

"Albus! We still have no idea about your condition! Anything could cause sudden and irreversible effects to you at the moment." Draco tried to reason. "You have to be more careful!"

"You know, if I didn't know better I'd say you were worried about me Draco."

"I am concerned for the well being of my patient!" He hissed through gritted teeth. The very thought of being concerned for a Potter brought back nauseating memories.

"You really don't need to be. Apart from my happy sack, I'm fine."

"I'll be the judge of that." Draco said pulling out his wand.

"Oh come on!"

"Has Madam Pomfrey checked you today?" Draco asked.

"No." He admitted grudgingly.

"Well then! As I'm here..." Draco began casting spells over Albus, checking temperature, blood pressure and anything else that could point to this being a contagious disease.

Albus wanted nothing more than to tell him exactly what had caused his sudden ageing but stopped himself.

"I'll find ya in a bit. I'm just gonna go and tell Ro -" Scorpius stopped as his father shot him an evil look. "Roger…about the party." He recovered and slipped out of the hospital wing as fast as possible.

"What's this party then?" Draco asked.

"I'm throwing Scorpius a little do for his birthday. Unless you mind of course?"

"I suppose not." Draco said quietly. "Will the Weasley girl be there?"

"Naturally. She is his girlfriend and her name is Rose." Albus added some force to his voice causing Draco to shudder slightly at the word 'Girlfriend' Albus laughed. "I don't see why you mind. It's not like she's Muggle born." Albus caught an icy glare from Draco.

"You really think that bothers me about this?"

"Doesn't it?"

"You may find it hard to believe but a person can change. Especially after 22 years." Draco breathed as he began casting a different spell on Albus.

"Well then, why is it such a bad thing for him to be dating my cousin?"

"Because I know what people will say!" Draco snapped. "They'll say that Scorpius is trying to get friendly with the Potters and Weasley's to repair the Malfoy reputation! My son shouldn't have to be burdened with my mistakes!"

Albus was taken back by that. Draco Malfoy was actually being noble. From the stories he had herd from his father and especially Ron, there wasn't a noble bone in Draco's body.

_You of all people should know that people evolve over time!_

"Well if anyone says that, I'll have to cause them considerable pain." Albus grinned.

For a second he thought he saw a smile curl in the corner of Draco's mouth but it wasn't there long enough for him to be sure. "So," Albus asked. "When did this…transformation take place?"

Draco huffed. "You wouldn't believe me."

"Try me."

Draco took a breath. "The day you were born." He said putting away his wand and taking a seat beside him.

Albus's eyes narrowed. Draco was right. He didn't believe him. It had to be a joke.

"Your mother experienced some problems during your birth. She couldn't give birth naturally so we had to help and after a long and complicated surgery, I was actually the one that handed you to her." Draco was staring at nothing, probably remembering the day in his mind. Albus sat in silence listening.

"I spent most of my early years hurting people. It seemed only logical that I try helping them for a change. And when I handed Ginny Potter her second child, there was this look on her face. Like a whole new world of happiness had opened up for her…and I realized that I was the one that just gave her that. I never got to see that look on my wife's face. When she was giving birth, I was working on a critical patient that had come into contact with a cursed object. I only got to see her and Scorpius four hours after she gave birth, but for your mother. I was right there, just like your headmaster…"

Albus didn't know why he was so shocked by that statement. He knew Tannis has been a doctor at St. Mungo's. He was still there around the time that Albus was born.

"Making people that happy was a lot more enjoyable than making them sad." Draco continued. "I want the very best for my son. I thank Merlin that he never wanted to be like me and I don't want to see his name slandered just because he has fallen for the wrong girl!"

"Who says she's the wrong girl?"

"I suppose we'll see, won't we."

"Yeah. That's if my Uncle doesn't kill him first." Albus laughed.

"Well then I'd have to kill your Uncle and we'd be right back where we started."

"Don't worry. I'll make sure that doesn't happen."

Draco actually smiled. "I'm glad he has you as a friend Albus." He stood up. "But please try and find him a different girl! The Weasley's are annoying. And they have that whole crazy hormone problem. I really don't what him becoming a father at 15."

"No promises. Now that there isn't a war to preoccupy people, they have a lot more time to…get to know one another." Albus giggled.

"Don't remind me." He sighed. "You have a clean bill of health which still makes me a little nervous. If something seems too good to be true it usually is. Anything and I do mean Anything changes, I want to know immediately!"

"Yes, my liege" Albus attempted to bow but the pain in his balls returned to quickly.

Draco nodded and left the hospital wing. Albus sat in silence for a while. He was still finding it difficult to believe that he had just had a heart to heart with Draco Malfoy but then again, he was Scorpius's father and he could see the similarities.

Albus stayed still while he waited for the healing potion to do it's job. He smiled to himself. This had certainly been an interesting day.

============ HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - NOVEMBER 20th - 2020 A.D. =============

Three hours later, when Albus was actually able to walk without limping or groaning in pain, he left the hospital wing hoping it would be a very long time before he found his way back there. He mulled over the list of things he needed to do in his head.

_Talk to Aurora, Scorpius's party, continue testing, do NOT anger Lynx!_

First he headed to the Owlary to send a letter to his father, very politely requesting money for Scorpius's party. He decided not to use the slightly psychotic Owl that George and James had got him from his birthday. In fact he had all but given that bird to Hogwarts.

He was actually looking forward to the party. He knew he could just take a quick flight to the Muggle village a few miles away and stock up on booze. He had also decided that because there would be a considerable amount of underage drinking going on, it would be best to have the party in the Room of Requirement.

But all of these thing could have waited. In truth, Albus was becoming more and more nervous about speaking to Aurora. Every time he thought about going to see her, the image of her with tears in her eyes popped inside his head. And every time it did, it was followed by a cold sickly feeling in his stomach.

He really had hurt her.

Albus was so rapped up in his thoughts that he almost walked straight into a terrified 2nd year. He recognized the boy as Mathew Clemmens. The poor first year that he had terrified on his first day at Hogwart.

The colour drained from his face and his eyes were wide. He looked like he had come face to face with a Dragon. Mathew obviously knew it was Albus despite that fact that he now looked five years older then the last time they met.

"Mathew right?"

Mathew nodded rapidly. He seemed far to terrified to speak.

"I wasn't very nice to you on your first day was I?" He asked knowing that he wouldn't get an answer.

Mathew simply stared at Albus.

"Well I'm sorry. I wasn't exactly in the best of moods that day. Err…see ya." Albus finished quickly. Mathew's horrified staring was making him uncomfortable.

Albus continued down the corridor, glad that that was over.

Bloody hell! If it's that hard to apologize to a little 2nd year, what's it gonna be like with Aurora!

Albus stopped in his tracks. He was panicking about what might happen when he spoke to her.

Maybe I could write her a letter…No! Just bite the bullet and do it!

He started heading for the Ravenclaw portal. He stopped again.

Tomorrow! I'll talk to her tomorrow!

He turned around and disappeared off to his room.

========= HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - NOVEMBER 21st - 2020 A.D. =========

Scorpius had found it a hell of a lot more difficult to sneak out of the Syltherin dungeons and into the ground than he first thought. In addition to avoiding as many snoozing portraits as possible, he also had to dodge Filch and Mrs Norris. Even though Filch had insisted that Professor McGonagall do everything in her power to extend Mrs Norris' life span, there seemed to be the added side effect that she had gotten extremely senile and therefore seemed to enjoy getting students in to trouble more than ever before.

Luckily he managed to evade them both and made it out onto the grounds where Albus was already waiting. He was finishing off what looked like his 3rd or 4th beer and had a lit cigarette in his mouth. His visits the Muggle village for booze and tobacco were becoming a regular trip.

"Anyone spot ya?" Al asked.

"Nah, almost got caught by Mrs Norris though!"

"Don't worry. Filch only ever checks the castle at night. Never bothers with the grounds."

Albus breathed out a lung full of smoke. Scorpius didn't like seeing his friend poising himself. Having a Healer for a father meant that he was well aware of the effects that any kind of drug had on the human body.

"You know that those things will kill you right?"

Albus chuckled. "I'm starting to notice quite a few similarities between you and your old man and besides, it's a stress relief."

"I take it you didn't talk to Aurora then?"

"I'm gonna do it tomorrow." Albus mumbled.

"Yeah sure." Scorpius had a tone of skepticism in his voice.

"Your one to talk! What's this I hear about Rose trying to become a little closer to you?" Albus asked with raised eyebrows.

Scorpius turned even more pale than he usually was. "How do you know -"

"Overheard her in the bathroom. - So what's going on? You not up to the challenge or are you planning to dump her or something?" Albus asked in all seriousness.

"NO!" Scorpius realized that the volume of his voice had just gotten away from him. "Look…it's just…I wasn't really expecting it…she was just so…full on! I'm starting to think that that Weasley Hormone thing isn't a myth!"

"You better believe it!"

"I don't want to break up with her! I'm just not sure if I'm…you know…ready." Scorpius admitted.

"Relax Cassanova. The only reason she's been trying to bed you all of a sudden is cos she's worried that somethings going to happen to you. I mean, between you getting cut up on the train and me jumping in and out of coma's every few minutes, she's worried that she's going to lose you before you two get the chance to…you know." Albus was trying desperately hard not to get another mental image in his head.

Scorpius was so relieved that Albus didn't mock or laugh at him for admitting that he wasn't ready for sex. It wasn't exactly a rare occurrence in the world today. He could remember reading in a Muggle newspaper about a 13 year old girl that gave birth to triplets not too long ago. He also knew, mainly through rumor and gossip, that most students at Hogwarts wouldn't be virgins by the time they made it to their seventh and in some cases sixth years.

"You know she's crazy about you…right?" Albus asked shyly.

"I'm crazy about her…" Scorpius sighed. Not only did he hate himself for simply not going to the next level with Rose but he wanted, so badly, to tell Albus how Aurora truly felt about him.

_POP!_

Nook had appeared in front of Albus along with the quick quotes quill, the notes from the other tests and a few fresh bits of parchment. He looked as nervous as ever.

"Nice of you to join us. Oh, Nook Mal, Mal Nook." Albus made the very quick introductions before stubbing out his cigarette.

"Hey." Scorpius smiled.

Nook looked at him with both fear and loathing. The Malfoy's treatment of House-elves seemed to be common knowledge along with most of their other exploits during the war.

"Don't worry. He always looks that." Albus smiled.

"Nook is ready to serve…masters." Nook said grudgingly.

"Good. Okay, Submersible flight test Mark 1. For lack of a better option, Nook is still on Safety watch," Albus turned to see Nook looking extremely insulted. "No offense, but the way you keep shaking during these test and that paranoid look in your eyes makes me think that something bad is going to happen. Seriously, stop looking at me like that!" The house elf couldn't help it. He tried to shift his face into a happy expression but just ended up looking like he was constipated. "All right that's it! Turn around! If something happens, then you can freak out but until then…Look at a tree or something! " Nook grudgingly turned around and looked at one of the large tree trunks. Al turned back to Scorpius. "That goes for you too Mal. Please don't act all weird after you see me do this."

Scorpius held up his hands in innocence while the quill took down everything that Albus was saying, including his small quips about Nook.

"Okay, the lake isn't all that deep, I think about 200 feet at the most, but the water is probably freezing so I'm just going to use a standard shield to combat pressure and temperature and let's hope that Jerry and the Merpeople don't mind the unexpected company."

"Jerry?" Scorpius asked.

"Yeah…Jerry the Giant Squid."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows.

"What?! I got bored one day in my second year!" Albus whined.

"And decided to name the squid." Scorpius tried to stop himself from laughing out loud.

"Piss off!"

Scorpius couldn't help himself. He burst into laugher. "Jerry and the Merpeople! Sounds like a 60's rock band!"

"Can we continue with the test please?!"

"Go right ahead…say hi to Jerry for me."

Al glared at Scorpius for a second, who again tried very hard not to laugh. Al turned back and looked towards the lake. "Test Commencing!"

He blasted 50 feet into the air, put up his shield, back flipped and then dive bombed straight into the Black Lake.

As soon as he hit the water he felt the resistance and a slight increase of pressure of the shield. She shot off like a man shaped speeding submarine. Visibility was terrible. The moon's light made is possible for him to see if he stayed close to the surface but he knew he had to venture in to the darkness below.

Albus descended at a comfortable speed.

At about sixty feet down even his enhanced vision couldn't see more than a few feet in front of him. The water was muddy and dark with schools of tiny fish swimming in clusters all around.

He continued on. He wasn't entirely sure how long the oxygen in his shield would last.

As he went lower and lower he could feel the water pressure begin to squeeze. He strengthened the shield but was now gliding slowing through total darkness. As he did, Tannis' words about Gravity effecting and causing light were running through his head. He had always hated those stupid little POPS but he was starting to think that could actually come in handy right about now.

There was light, even at 80 feet down. It was barely enough to see a hand in front of his face but it was there. If he could somehow find a way to bend it using the gravity around him, he might be able to see a little better. Albus stopped to think for a second. He wished he had finished reading the books on physics instead of going to the Muggle shop to pick up more booze.

Something caught his attention in the corner of his eye. He turned but couldn't see anything.

Suddenly something shot past him and disappeared into the blackness.

Albus got the distinct impression that not only was he intruding on somebody else's turf but he was also surrounded.

_Light! Come on! I need Light!_

He closed his eyes tightly. Suddenly he felt the wake of another creature shoot past his back. He continued to clutch his eyes shut, trying to feel, not think the solution. And in that second, the door once again entered his mind.

He felt his shield do something strange. It felt like it was twisting or folding it's self.

Suddenly the invisible membrane around his body began to glow. It was giving off the same eerie radiance that a Patronus caused. The glow grew in power until Albus suddenly realized that there were at least 50 Merpeople circling him. They backed away slightly as the Light from his shield grew more intense.

Albus looked around for a second and smiled. It was like having his own personal spotlight.

And with that, He took off!

The Merpeople gave chase. Albus wasn't sure if this was some kind of game or if they were actually being aggressive. He didn't care. He found it amusing. He shot through the water and quickly found him self looking at the underwater Mervillage.

The water slowed his acceleration and made his control a little more difficult but not some much that the Merpeople stood a chance of catching him.

He glided in and out of the half broken stone pillars right into the heart of the village, where more Merpeople joined the pursuit.

He banked left to avoid gliding into some very dense sea weed and made his way back around. He shot out of the other side of the open village and back into the darkness of the lake.

He turned around to see the Merpeople had given up their chase. Albus slowed to a crawl and smiled.

I win!

He jumped! A giant eye the size of a Quaffle was staring at him. Jerry had come to say 'hello'

The 60 foot invertebrate was floating effortlessly next to him with it's giant tentacles dancing lazily in the water. His enormous eye seemed to shy away from the light being given off from Albus' shield.

Albus decided to leave the aquatic creatures in peace and jetted towards the surface. He blasted out of the lake and flew back over towards Scorpius and Nook. Albus dropped his shield an landed carefully with a smile on his face.

Scorpius jaw couldn't get any lower if it tried. Nook simply looked relieved that Albus had returned alive. He took a breath before speaking.

"Acceleration and maneuvering were sluggish but functional and pressure build up was much more intense than in the air." Albus spoke directly to the quill, ignoring the look of shock on Scorpius' face. "I discovered another interesting little talent as well. I can use the grav-shield to bend the light around me, effectively creating a kind of spotlight…should come in handy if I decided to visit the bottom of the ocean."

"Why are you talking like a scientist?" Scorpius breathed.

"Well…it…sounds more professional."

"Oh."

"What?!"

"Nothing…it's just…that was the coolest thing I have ever seen and now your talking all weird…just a bit surreal is all." Scorpius did look slightly dazed by what he had just witnessed.

Albus ignored his odd remarks and turned to Nook. "Okay Nook, you can go. We're done for tonight."

"Thank you master!" Nook exclaimed before Disapperating away. Albus handed the quill and parchment t Scorpius and they began walking back towards the castle.

As they did Scorpius read though the data from Albus's previous tests.

"You can fly at 2900 miles an hour!" Scorpius blurted.

"At the moment. I know I can go faster than that." Albus said absently.

"70,000 feet high!"

"Yeah, it's pretty cold up there."

"Albus this is…" Scorpius tried to find a suitable word to describe his abilities.

"Fantastic?" Albus offered.

"Among other thing!"

"Yeah, being a freak has it's quirks ya know." Albus smiled.

"I'm surprised that Aurora actually needed to protect you!"

Albus looked solemn for a moment. "It's what she does…" He sighed, thinking about those enticing wolf-like eyes of hers.

"You really need to talk to her -"

"I said I'd do it tomorrow! I've got a lot on my mind right now, not to mention your party!"

"Oh yeah, forgot about that." Scorpius grinned.

"Yeah well, make sure you keep it discrete. I'm going to be bringing a lot of booze to it and I don't need the teachers finding out."

"How ya planning on doing that? You know the portraits will just warn the teachers if they see us drinking in the common rooms."

"That's why we're having it in the Room of Requirement." Albus smiled mischievously.

"Nice."

"Yep, I think it's going to be the highlight of an otherwise boring December." Albus chirped.

"What about Christmas?" Scorpius asked.

"My last Christmas was exactly wonderful. And besides, you think I want the whole family treating me like I'm some kind of cripple…which they will!"

"Hard to believe that the super powered Potter is the one that will get the sympathy treatment!" Scorpius chuckled.

"Why do you think I haven't written to them. As far as I'm concerned, I'm in exile until they start acting normally around me!"

"No one can act normally around you at the moment Al. Sorry to say, but your hot gossip at the moment. The public is very interested in you, judging by the papers and the students. Which reminds me, are you sticking around for the Convention?" Scorpius asked.

"The what?"

"The International Wizarding Convention?"

"That's not until next year!"

"Err…no. They bumped it up to co-inside with your Aunt becoming Minister. I think she's doing some kind of press junket," Scorpius instantly clocked the reason that Albus had no idea about this. "Which, of course you wouldn't know about because you were in a coma when it was announced…sorry. I thought your family would have told you."

Albus looked extremely pissed off. "Is there anything else people have neglected to mention?! Third Wizarding War going on? Any other bodyguards pretending to be students?!"

"That's about it I think."

"Bloody hell!" Albus sighed. One of the main reasons he wanted to get out of the hospital and back to Hogwarts so quickly was because he couldn't stand having his entire family coming there and scrutinizing his new appearance. But, naturally, the entire family would be attending the Convention. The presence of the Potter/Weasley family was one of the main reasons that so many people came to it. Not to mention the swarms of wizards and witches that would be coming from other magical schools around the world. "When is it?"

"17th of December I think. Still, not all bad. At least we get a day of free roaming. We could go to Hogsmead and check out that new wannabe Muggle Pub."

"Is that open already?"

"Nah, I think it opens in about two weeks. The only wizarding pub in Britain that has electricity."

"Oh great. My granddad'll love it."

"They've got a tele."

"Wonderful. Maybe they'll be showing some Buffy re-runs."

Scorpius walked up to the main entrance of the castle but Albus stopped. "You know it's probably safer if I…you know." Albus pointed to the sky.

"Oh no no no! I fly on brooms not Potters! I'll take my chances with Filch!"

"Don't be such pussy!" Albus moved closer to Scorpius but Scorpius recoiled.

"Look. I'm still rapping my head around the whole superpowers thing, I'm really not ready to…fly coach with you!"

"Hey, I'm not gonna drop ya! I'm just gonna fly you up to the tower and then you can make your way back to the dungeon!"

"I got a better idea! Why don't I just walk!"

"You know I'm actually kind of insulted that you don't trust me enough to just -"

"FINE!" Scorpius caved.

Al smiled, grabbed Scorpius by the arm and they both shot into the air. Scorpius couldn't help yelping and squeezing Albus's arm tightly.

Al laughed. He was tempted to actually take him for a proper flight but knew it would probably leave Scorpius mentally scared. He brought them down nice and softly on the balcony of the Dark Tower.

Scorpius instinctively backed away from Al and soon as he let go of him.

"Okay! I'm never doing that again!"

"Wimp! This is ridiculous! You fly in Quidditch but your not willing to let me -"

Albus stopped mid-sentence and looked to his left. Scorpius looked in the same direction to see James Sirius Potter standing next tot the entrance with a bottle of fire-whiskey in his hand and an extremely shocked look on his face.

"Did you just fly?" He breathed.

Ah shit!


	12. Community Service

========================= COMMUNITY SERVICE ===========================

============= HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - NOVEMBER 22ND - 2020 A.D. ============

Albus and Scorpius looked as stumped as James. For a few seconds nobody even moved. James was staring blankly at Albus.

"Okay James…just relax…stay calm."

"You…you…you…you…" James' eyes couldn't get past the first word of a sentence. What he just saw was replaying in his mind over and over. Part of his brain was looking for someway to explain it or at least make it seem less unbelievable.

"No! Don't freak out! I can explain!"

"You…you…"

"Stay calm!"

"YOU CAN FL -" Scorpius's hand suddenly clamped over James mouth.

James struggled and went for his wand but Scorpius had already pulled his.

"Incascerous!" Ropes shot out of thin air and rapped themselves around James's arms and legs. "Langlock!" Scorpius shouted again causing James's tongue to hit the roof of his mouth and stay there.

"Nice," Al complimented.

"Thanks."

Albus turned to his brother who had already began struggle against his bonds. "James, I need you to stay nice and calm so that I can explain this to you."

"Nah, lemmi' go and get Aurora. She can just Obliviate him."

"I'm not having my brother Obliviated!" Albus hissed back. He looked over to see the half full bottle of whiskey rolling on the floor next to James. "Where you stealing my booze?!"

James made several grunts that were probably meant to be an explanation or a poor excuse.

"Look shut up! Yes! I can fly! I can manipulate gravity okay!"

James grunted something that sounded like 'how?'

Albus tried to thin of the best way to explain this quickly so he would have to worry about his brother screaming about a flying man!

"You remember last year? We were arguing, you got blasted into the wall? That was me! I'm…an anomaly…it's why I aged, it's why I'm shite at magic…it's…it's why I'm different!"

James started mumbling something while his tongue was still glued to the top og his mouth. He was trying so hard that he had actually started drooling.

"Hang on," Scorpius said. He waved his wand and James' tongue was liberated.

James took a breath and tried to calm down. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you'd freak out! Like you just did!"

"Of course I'm gonna freak out! YOU CAN FL -" Scorpius' hand clammed over James mouth before he could finish.

"Yes! He can! And people really aren't ready to know that yet!" Scorpius hissed.

"You tell him?! But you won't tell your own brother!" James scowled.

"I didn't tell him! He knew before I did!"

James face tightened up. "How could he…" He thought for a second but the confusion on his face only grew and grew. Suddenly his face dropped like he had just been slapped with a wet kipper. "AURORA! I fucking knew it! She did something to you didn't she!"

"Stop blaming her for everything! She didn't do anything to me! I was born like this! It's evolution!"

"Evolution?! You can fly! That ain't evolution, that fucked up!"

"Yeah well it ain't going away so your just going to have to deal with!"

"Alright, Alright…just explain this to me," James sighed. "And get these bloody ropes off me."

"Diffindo," Scorpius said slashing through the ropes.

"Okay, Scorpius explain."

"Why me?"

"Cos I wanna try something." Albus said walking towards the balcony.

James saw his opening and bolted for the door, probably to alert the world to Albus' powers. Unfortunately he was still inside the 9-foot radius. James suddenly halted, as if there was an invisible rope attached to his back. He shot up through the air and slammed against the ceiling.

"Okay, Okay, Okay! I'm sorry! Let me down!" Now he was really freaking out. Being stuck to the roof of his brothers room by an invisible force was making him feel slightly helpless.

Albus' hand was extended and pointed at James. "James, I need you to stay calm so Scorpius can explain this to you! If you can't, I'm gonna fly you to Chechnya and leave you there! You know what's happening in Chechnya right now? It ain't exactly a holiday spot!"

"Alright! I'll be good! I promise!"

Albus flicked his free hand and the door to his room slammed shut. James floated slowly back down to earth. As soon as he hit the ground he thought about making another run for it but wasn't actually sure if his brothers threat was real or not. He certainly didn't want to end up in Chechnya!

James struggled to keep his composer as he quietly took a seat on Albus's bed.

"You try and run again and you better start brushing up on your Russian!" Albus warned. He walked back over to the balcony and stood facing his view.

"I'll start at the beginning shall I?" Scorpius smiled. It was fun to see James Sirius Potter looking like a terrified 5 year old.

Scorpius decided to explain in chronological order, starting with the fact that Anomalies have been around for quite a while. He told James about the 'Clerics', about Albus' Maturing Cycle and the fact that he may even want to find a female to mate with. As he did, sudden bursts of light began to come from the balcony.

Albus was bending the light from the moon, causing it come off it quick blasts right in the palms of his hand. Each time he tried, the blast of light grew bigger.

Scorpius finished up with explaining about Aurora and the real reason she came to Hogwarts.

"She's been protecting him the whole time?" James breathed, unable to truly grasp this idea.

"Yes! So you need to start being nice to her!"

"I'm using all my patients to tolerate the fact that you are dating my cousin! You expect me to be nice to her as well?!" James laughed.

"Look, I appreciate that you haven't tried to cruse me for dating Rose -"

"Yeah well, you saved my brothers life. Besides, I don't even want to think about what she'd do to me if I did! But Aurora! No! I don't care what she's been doing for Albus, her father -"

"Exactly," Albus cut in. "Her father. Not her." He was still on the balcony causing balls of light to appear in his palms like a human deluminator.

James sighed and tried to change the subject. "What are you doing?"

"Bending light."

"How?"

"Suddenly shifts in the gravitation fields around my hands cause the light to change direction rapidly," Albus said absently.

"Nope, you lost me."

"Well that's understandable. I don't fully understand myself."

James turned back to Scorpius. "Okay, so you, Rosey, Tannis and Aurora. Who else knows?"

"Lynx and Violet."

"Them?!"

"Yeah! Them! They're Aurora's best friends! She told them just after she told Al."

"Bloody Ravenclaws! So he flies and he…does stuff with light. What else can he do?" James asked.

"Apart from destroy shacks and kill psychotic teachers? He can create a gravity shield around his body, reach heights of about 70,000 feet, fly at 3000 MPH -"

"Fuck me!" James looked over towards his brother just as another burst of light appeared in his hand. He learned closer to Scorpius and whispered. "I always knew there was something weird about my brother. Even when he was young. He used to act really strange. I used to think he was adopted."

"He can also hear everything your saying."

James face dropped and went pale. He looked over to see Albus walking back into the room. For a second he just looked at James with a strange sorrow on his face. "Mal, can you give me and my brother a minute?"

"Sure. I'll see ya tomorrow," Scorpius said, leaving the tower quickly.

Albus took a seat next to James.

"I used to think I was adopted as well. I looked at you guys and just…felt like I didn't belong. But at the same time, I couldn't imagine not being a part of the family. I wanted so badly to be like…you. But every time I tried…I just…felt even more different." Albus was staring at the floor. He was scared. Scared of them not understanding him. Scared that they he might frighten them away.

"When you woke up and you looked…different. I knew it wouldn't end there. But I didn't care. I was just so…happy to have my brother back. I didn't want to say anything. I didn't even want to talk about it. It didn't matter what you looked like! I knew the moment I saw you that you were still my brother. I don't care what you can do, your still my brother. I love you Al."

Albus blinked back his tears. He had never loved his brother more. He rapped his arms around James and held him close.

"Sorry for freaking out back there." They laughed.

"I guess I can forgive you."

They broke apart. Albus whipped his eyes. Usually he would have done anything he could not to cry in front of his brother but today it didn't matter.

"I am so putting you on the Quidditch team! You know that, right?" James smiled.

===== HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - DECEMBER 5th - 2020 A.D. =====

Despite James's constant nagging, Albus had refused to try out for the team. Not only would it be considered cheating but it would also alert the entire school that he could achieve flight without a broom. This seemed to pale in comparison to James's chances of reacquiring the Quidditch cup. After the initial shock, James had now come to see his brothers abilities as a mix between an incredible gift and some from of entertainment. He kept asking Al to move things with his mind or fly off to the muggle town and pick up some booze. Albus had actually done the latter a few times.

James had actually made an effort to be nicer to Aurora, mainly because he still feared Albus's threat of a longer vacation in Chechnya. The dirty looks and glares had stopped and he had even told Fred and DJ to be nicer to her. Although James was actually making an effort to be nice to Aurora, Albus was avoiding her like the plague. His excuse of 'talking to her tomorrow' had now lasted 2 weeks with no sign of letting up. The only reason he wasn't catching more blowback from Lynx and Violet was because Aurora seemed to be doing exactly the same.

As soon as they saw each other, both became extremely uncomfortable and left the area as fast as possible. Aurora was even avoiding Scorpius and eating her meals at odd times so that they didn't run into each other in the great hall. They would sit at opposite sides of any class they were in together and would barely say a word.

At first it seemed as if Aurora was angry with Albus but it had quickly become clear that she was more shy or scared of talking to him. Albus was exactly the same. The only time he acted naturally was after the sun went down and he continued to practice with his powers.

Testing had continued on and off and Albus was far more focused with his abilities. One thing he couldn't control however, was the rate in which his hair and nails grew. He had to trim his finger and toe nails once every few days but his hair was a different matter. Usually he would leave it up to his mom to cut magically but since she couldn't make regular trips to Hogwarts to act as a barber, Al had to seek out alternative means.

"Stop bloody squirming!" Lynx hissed as she cut away more of his hair with the scissors.

Albus was extremely uncomfortable about letting the same girl that had recently crushed his testicles, cut his hair but unfortunately there was no one else. Rose and Violet had come along to make sure that she didn't purposely trim the words 'Hex me' into the back of his head.

"Are you sure you know what your doing?" Albus asked apprehensively.

"I work in a salon during the summer!"

"You do?" Albus sounded surprised.

Lynx glared at him. "Not all of us come from rich wizarding families Potter!" She went back to Al's head and began cutting again. All around him there were large clumps of black hair on the floor. They were using an empty class room where Rose had transfigured a table into a large mirror.

"So what does your mum do Lynx?" Rose asked conversationally.

"Not much."

"Well, what about your dad?"

"Which one?"

"How many have you got?" Albus asked in confusion.

"I've had six." Lynx said quietly.

"Six?!" Rose blurted.

"My mum likes getting divorced almost as much as she likes getting married." Lynx sounded more angry than ashamed. "She's in Hawaii with her new boyfriend, who also happens to be 14 years younger than her."

"Huh…"

"What?" She snapped at Albus.

"Nothing…it's just, I suppose I can see why you prefer women." He braced him self for a punch that never came. Instead Lynx simply continued to cut away his hair.

A bright red flush began to creep up on Violets cheeks. Albus saw it in the mirror and winked at her causing her to turn away in discomfort.

"I prefer women because men are idiots! You and your brother prove that!"

"Oi!"

"You spoken to Aurora?" She snapped back.

"I'll…do it tomorrow…" Albus said quietly.

"Sure you will." Lynx rolled her eyes.

"Well she hasn't exactly made an effort to talk to me!" Albus objected.

"She's not the one that is suppose to be apologizing!" Lynx scowled. She slammed the scissors down on the table and shoved a mirror into Albus's hands. "Your done!"

Albus used the mirror to check his hair. She had done a pretty good job. It was much shorter now and actually looked a lot less messy. "Nice. Thanks."

"Repay me by talking to Aurora!" She ordered.

The door of the class room burst open. "Hey Al, are you sure that you can only get muggle booze for this par -" James Potter stopped dead as soon as he saw Lynx. The two glared at each other. Quidditch had made them enemies but they're personalities made them want to tear each other apart.

James forced a fake smile onto his face. "Sorry, didn't realize you were busy."

"Actually were all done." Rose jumped in, trying to keep the peace. She could see by the looks on their faces that this could get ugly at any minute.

James saw Al's new hair cut. "Who trimmed ya hair?"

"I did." Lynx spat through gritted teeth.

"Really? I'm surprised you still have both your ears Al." James chimed.

"Worry about your own appendages Potter!" Lynx hissed and started to go for her wand. James went for his but suddenly both of them froze of the spot as if someone had stopped time.

Albus had his hand raised towards the Gryffindor and the Ravenclaw. "Let's not do this. There are still some seats available on the next flight to Chechnya!" He warned.

Albus lowered his hand and returned gravity to normal.

Lynx and James glared at each other for another second before she pushed past him and stormed out of the class room. Violet followed her out while Rose glared at James.

"Why can't you just be nice to her?" Rose growled.

"I will be! As soon as we get the Quidditch cup back." James smirked.

"You better not start arguing with her at the party!" Rose warned. "It's Scorpius' birthday and you aren't going to ruin it!"

"Relax Juliet! No ones going to spoil ya party!" James smiled as he walked out of the class room

Rose went to leave but Al stepped in her way.

"What?"

"You need to stop pressuring him," Albus cautioned.

"It's the only way your stupid brother -"

"I wasn't talking about him."

Rose copped her head to the side like a confused puppy.

"You don't have to rush things Rosey, nothings going to happen to him. And he will want to sleep with you eventually." In that second Rose face went from pale horror, to bright red anger.

"THAT IS NONE OF YOUR BUS…HOW DARE YOU…"

"He's my friend and you're my cousin and good things come to those who wait." He winked.

Rose went for her wand.

"Careful! Super powered anomaly remember." Al pointed at him self.

Rose gave Albus one more look of distain before storming out of the class room. Al giggled to himself for a minute before floating all the clumps of hair into a small ball that dropped itself into the bin.

_Oh yeah. This is going to be an interesting party._

===== HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - DECEMBER 13TH - 2020 A.D. =====

The party was taking place inside the Room of Requirement. Not only because it was the only place big enough to house all the students but also because quite a few people feared that the common room portraits would report to the teachers if they saw underage students drinking muggle booze.

The Wireless had been tuned to the 'Muggle Magic' radio station that played a mix of muggle music and wizarding songs. It was blaring out music around the entire Room of Requirement.

Scorpius had refused to let them put up any banners that read 'Harry Birthday!' especially after Fred, James and DJ tried to put up one that said 'Happy Birthday Filthy Pureblood!'. Rose had made sure they did try it again. Now the Room simply looked like a warm, inviting communal area.

Along with James, Fred and DJ, The Gryffindor Quidditch captain, Amy Clynner had come to the party, along with Elton Marsh and Ryan Finnigan. Of course, since Scorpius was a Slytherin, the greens outnumbered any other house at the party. Half of Slytherin had arrived to send their best wishes to Scorpius. Eleanor Zabini, Tony Baddock, Dimitry Varrick (Who already had a large group of girls huddled around him) and the rest of the Quidditch team were present along with an unusual amount of 7th year girls.

Scorpius knew that most of them weren't here for him. He looked across the room to see Albus opening another crate of Alco-pops. He had come through in fine style, delivering a very large amount of booze. He had only needed to make one trip to the muggle shop which wasn't surprising since the crates felt as light as tea cups too him.

Everyone, both male and female, were dressed to impress. Most of the ladies were wearing revealing, board line slutty outfits, whilst the men (James in particular) were wearing just about anything that would make them look classy. Parties like this were also known as PPG. Possible Pulling Ground. The people would come to wish Happy Birthday and stay for the other inebriated guests.

Stories of Horace Slughorns retirement party, 6 years prior, still circulated Hogwarts. Not only had it created a wealth of opportunities for the students about to leave Hogwarts for good but it also became a legendary match making event. Apparently it's where Teddy and Victorie first got together.

There was suddenly a great uproar at the double doors. A group of Ravenclaw girls had charged towards the door to greet Lynx and Violet. Albus felt a flush creep up his neck. He subtly looked to see if Aurora had arrived with them. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that it was only Lynx and Violet. He was actually starting to wish that he had spoken to her days ago.

If it was possible for Violet to look anymore stunning then no one knew how. She had forgone the slutty look and was actually wearing the kind of thing people would wear at an award ceremony. Lynx didn't look quite as elegant but had certainly made an effort. She had even allowed her cleavage to show, something she very rarely did.

Both Albus and Scorpius had a suspicion that both ladies had dressed this way to try and impress the other.

"Hi Albus. You look nice." Sarah Manningsfield had come out of nowhere and was beaming at him.

"Oh, err, thanks…Sarah right?"

"Yep. This is a great party. I think it's really nice that your doing this for Scorpius. He was very brave last year. You both were." She said conversationally whilst helping her self to a drink.

"Well he saved my life so it's the least I could do." Albus said happily.

"Hmm, noble as well." She said in a seductive tone. "You carry on like this and half the girls in Hogwarts will be trying to get to know you a lot better."

Albus felt a flush creeping up on his cheeks. "Err…thanks."

"So…you seeing anyone Albus?" She was looking him dead in the eye. She clearly had no problem being forward to men.

"Erm…N-no."

"Hmm, me neither." She licked her lips.

"Oh, I err, I though my brother was trying to -"

"James Potters a player. I prefer modest men." She winked.

Albus's heart began to beat incredible fast. He was actually being hit on. This had never happened before. He didn't know what to do. As if by some act of God, Varrick suddenly appeared next to him, trying to pick up several drinks at the same time.

"Varrick! How ya doing!?" Albus blurted.

"I'm good."

"Well, nice talking to you Albus. See ya later." Sarah said cheerfully. She winked at him once more before gliding away over to a group of her friends.

"Nice party yes?" Varrick said, breaking Albus out of his daze. He seemed out of breath.

"Yeah, see your fan clubs already here," Albus nodded at the large group of giggling girls in the corner.

"They followed me here." Varrick sighed.

"I spos that Veela thing has it's down side as well."

"Yes, but my sister, she get's it much worse. She comes to visit, next week, for wizarding convention," He said, still trying to juggle several bottles at once. He had clearly offered to bring drinks over for the other girls.

"A lot of people go to that." Albus was already envisioning the whole family grouped around him, scrutinizing his every mannerism. He thought he had done a good job of avoiding them until Scorpius mentioned that the wizarding convention had been moved up.

"Your family will be there, yes?"

"Yep," Al sighed again.

"I look forward to meeting Harry Potter. He is friends with Victor Krum, Yes?"

"Yeah, I've only met him once though, when I was about 10."

"Hmm." Varrick grunted. He seemed to be having more and more trouble with the bottles.

Something odd suddenly entered Albus' mind. Varrick was half Veela. Why wasn't he trying to tear him apart? He could smell the Veela blood in his veins. It was an unusual smell, not unpleasant just different. A little bit like what the potions class room smells like during class.

But Albus felt no aggression towards him what so ever. He was just…Varrick. Dimitry Varrick, the broody but nice half Veela from somewhere in north Germany that was often followed around by a crowed of giggling girls. He wasn't threatening in the slightest.

Hmm…maybe it's because he's a guy?

Then something else occurred to him. Varricks Veela charms didn't seem to work of Aurora. If they did, he would probably be crushing him into the size of a small garden peg by now, but since it didn't, he was okay. Then, as if he was reading Albus' mind, he spoke.

"Aurora looks nice."

Albus felt a sudden lurch inside his chest. He did everything he could to stop his body from turning and laying eyes on her.

He wasn't at his best friends party anymore. He was inside a forbidden temple, trying to retrieve a priceless artifact. One false move would trigger a wave of booby traps, design to kill. His life was the artifact, she was the lose stepping stone that would trigger the traps and seal his fate. He suddenly felt the urge to duck and dive his way through the party guests in an attempt to get to the exit before he was no doubt crushed by a giant boulder.

Your being stupid and you've watched Indiana Jones too many times! It's a party! Relax!

He body began to turn on its own. He took a breath and looked.

Now he was in quick sand, sinking with nothing to grab on to. His legs were turning to jelly. She had always been stunning…but this…She was wearing a similar outfit to Violet. Something that made her look like she was the daughter of the wealthiest wizard in the world. She seemed to glow and make everything in the room seem cute. He imagined her walking past a dieing plant that would suddenly sprout to life when she got close.

The door of light flashed inside his minds eye.

Albus was brought back down to earth as he saw an extremely handsome and classy looking Cody Miller standing next to her.

Albus actually growled. Like an angry predator who's prey was being usurped by another animal.

Aurora looked towards Albus. A shy smile crept onto her face and she mouthed the word 'Hi' Albus only managed to respond by raising his hand and giving a sort of lazy wave.

"That doesn't count as talking!"

Albus snapped his head around to see that Lynx had appeared next to him.

"What?! She just got here!" Albus whined.

Lynx rolled her eyes and grabbed a pair of drinks. As she did, Albus gave her a look, once up and down. She really was a very pretty woman, provided that a man could get past her solid iron exterior. Albus could see why Violet was having trouble with her feelings towards her friend.

"What?!" Lynx snapped as she caught him looking.

"Nothing. Just a bit surprised that there's a woman in there after all."

"You don't even know what a woman is, Potter," She smirked dryly.

"I can see why she likes you." Albus mumbled.

Lynx looked confused for a second. "She?"

Albus pretended that he hadn't heard what she had just said, or that he could even remember what he said.

"Hmm? Oh you know. She likes you." He said conversationally while trying to keep the smile off his face.

"Who's she?"

"Your date." Al nodded towards Violet.

"She's not my…she…we're just friends!" For the first time in his life, Albus was witnessing Lynx's tough defences fail. He was actually having serious trouble suppressing the Cheshire smile that was about to appear.

"Oh, okay." He turned, feigning disinterested, back to the drinks.

"Violet…Violets straight!" Lynx declared.

"Did she tell you that?"

Lynx was actually stumped. Albus knew she was reviewing her friendship with Violet to see if she had ever actually told her, her sexual preferences.

Albus popped open a bottle of beer and took a swing. In the corner of his eye he saw Violet walking over to them. He looked back at Lynx who had actually started to go bright red.

"Hi." She said cheerfully.

"You look amazing Violet," Albus turned to Lynx. "Doesn't she?"

Lynx went pale. "She's beautiful." She breathed. Violet's face went as bright as the bottle of Rose wine that was sitting on the table.

"I'll say!"

Hugo was standing behind Violet with a empty bottle of beer in his hand. His eyes seemed to be looking is different directions and he was swaying slightly on the spot.

"How many beers have you had Hugo?" Al asked.

"Lynx your hot!" He blurted, making no attempt to hide the fact that he was staring at her chest.

"Err…thanks." She forced.

"You got a boyfriend?"

"Hugo, Lynx is gay." Albus said very slowly.

"Yes, well I can fix that."

Lynx clenched her fists.

"Okay, no more beer for you!" Albus grabbed Hugo and marched him away from the two girls.

"That Weasley Hormone thing is a killer." Violet mumbled.

As Albus forced Hugo to sit down in one of the chairs he almost ran straight into none other than Cody Miller.

He had never looked so nervous in his entire life. "Err…Hi. I'm Cody."

"I know," Albus said struggling with the urge to tear him limb from limb. He took a breath and tried to calm down. He had promised himself that he would make an effort. "Aurora's told me a lot about you. It's nice to meet you." The word 'Nice' had come out a little too sharply.

"You too! Aurora's told me a lot about you as well!" Cody was also trying way too hard to act naturally.

"She…was err…really worried when you were in hospital."

"Really? She didn't seem all that worried to me. Then again she is pretty good a hiding things like that. I mean, I aged 5 years in 5 days…who wouldn't worry." Albus laughed.

"Yeah, weird huh?. My mums always telling me that I need to grow up!" This time they both laughed. Not a real laugh but they seemed determined to keep up the act.

_Prick!_

"Thanks for inviting me to this party." Cody said suddenly, trying to avoid an uncomfortable silence.

"Oh, it's no problem!" Al smiled.

_Fuck off!_

"Err…I'm gonna get a drink. You want one?" Cody asked.

"Nah, I'm good." Albus showed him the bottle in his hand.

"Okay…err…see ya." Cody disappeared as quickly as possible.

_Hope you choke on it! Wanker!_

"Is that the bloke that's shagging Aurora?" Hugo slurred.

"Shut up Hugo!"

Albus downed the rest of his beer. The mire thought of Aurora and Cody copulating was enough to drive him to drink. He wanted another beer but saw Cody was still over at the table.

He looked around quickly to make sure that no one was watching. He subtly held out his hand and a beer shot across from the table and into his palm.

Hugo giggled. "Hehe…flying beer."

Albus didn't pay it any mind. It was doubtful that Hugo would even remember being at the party.

"Haha! Hugo's wasted!" James's voice came from behind Al.

"No I'm snot!"

Albus noticed instantly that James, for whatever reason, was wearing sunglasses. His sunglasses!

"Oi! These are mine!" Albus snatched the glasses away from James. "Stop sneaking into my room!"

"Buzzkill!" James chimed and walked off towards the drinks table.

Albus tucked the sunglasses into his pocket and surveyed the room. He saw his little sister standing in the corner. She had a drink in her hand but wasn't moving. Instead she was staring wildly at Varrick. She, like Hugo seemed to be having trouble focusing.

Maybe it was a bad idea to let her and Hugo come to the party.

He started walking over to Lily when Aurora stepped out right in front of him. He actually had to hold out his arms to stop her from walking straight into him.

"Hi."

"Hi."

Aurora seemed to be somehow hypnotizing him. He couldn't move or take his eyes off her. He had been infected with some kind of sexy mind control. The silence between them was quickly becoming unbearable.

"Listen I'm sorry I -"

"Al, I never meant to -"

They cut each other off.

"You go."

"No it's okay, you first."

"I erm…I…I'm sorry. For what I said to you…I didn't mean it…I was angry…I -" Albus stuttered.

"You had every right to be angry. I never wanted to lie to you. It was for your protection." She was almost pleading. As if his apology wasn't enough to put her mind at ease.

"I know. And, I understand how much you've been risking for me. Thank you. For everything." Albus smiled.

Aurora' heart seemed to lift into the clouds.

"So were friends…again?"

"Yeah."

She smiled at him. Once again her hypnotic beauty was over taking his senses.

"So…you met Cody?"

"Yeah…he seems…nice." Albus forced.

"You still hate him don't you?"

"Oh you have no idea!" Albus admitted at once. To his surprise Aurora actually laughed.

"Thanks for making the effort." She smiled.

"No problem."

Albus felt a bit awkward about the question he was about to ask, especially in the middle of a party. But, it had been playing on his mind lately. "Aurora…when…," Albus made sure to keep his voice low. "When do I get to meet the others?"

"Others?"

"Yeah, you know, the others like me."

Aurora sighed. "That's not for me to decide. When they want to meet you they'll send word."

Frustration started digging at his mind. Although a number of people knew what he was, they couldn't actually relate to him on the same level as his own species.

"Besides," Aurora smiled. "You've already met Lincoln."

"Oh what, for all of about 5 and a half seconds when he smashed into me on the platform while pretending to be a drunk Irishman!"

"He was removing a tracking bolt from you're trunk. The one I had put there so that we could keep an eye on you over Christmas."

"That's hardly an introduction!"

"Don't worry Al. It won't be long," She assured him. "But they have to be careful. They can't just come out into the open."

"I know, the Cleric's."

Aurora sighed. She could tell by the tone of his voice that he really didn't respect how dangerous they were. "Albus…" She tried but he cut her off.

"Listen, can we talk in a bit? I'm gonna get Lily and Hugo -" Albus suddenly realized that Hugo had disappeared from the chair he was sitting on. "Ahh, where is he?!"

"There." Aurora pointed.

Hugo was again pestering Lynx and Violet only this time both Cody and Violet's brother, Ryan, were trying to calm him down. Albus and Aurora walked over.

"She's gay. Did you know that she's gay?" Hugo asked Ryan while pointing at the space between Lynx and Violet. Lynx seemed to be using all of her will power not to destroy Hugo on the spot.

"Yes Hugo, I knew that, come one, time to go back to the common room now." Ryan said trying to usher Hugo away.

"Hugo! Stop bothering the women!" Albus snapped and grabbed him by the arm.

"She's gay, did you know that? Is Violet gay two?" Hugo asked, clearly in a world of his own.

Violets eyes went wide with shock. Not just because of what Hugo had just asked but because Lynx was looking at her, waiting for an answer.

Violet was fighting an internal battle as Al continued to pull Hugo away.

"Of course my sisters not gay!" Ryan stated firmly.

Violet nodded in agreement. Lynx's anger toward Hugo faded instantly as was replaced with a solemn look of sadness that she tried desperately to hide. Without another word she stormed past everyone and headed for the exit.

Violet suddenly realized what she had just done.

Albus was so busy watching what had just taken place that he didn't even notice Hugo grabbing a bottle wine and taking a giant swig. Albus grabbed the bottle out of his hand and slammed it down on the table.

"NO!" He yelled at Hugo and dragged him towards the door. Violet shot straight past them and out the door, chasing after Lynx.

"Where we going?" Hugo slurred.

"Disney land! Come on!" He heaved Hugo out the door and down the corridor. The moment the doubles closed behind him the noise from the party died immediately. The corridor was completely silent other than a few snoozing portraits.

He continued to pull Hugo towards Gryffindor toward.

"Can we go back the farty?"

"No! We can't go back to the farty!"

He dragged him around a corner heading for the staircase.

"Lynx wait!" Violets voice rang out around the corridor. Albus could seem them at the end of the hall. Lynx was power walking her way towards Ravenclaw tower.

"Hey that's Ly -" Albus slammed his hand over Hugo's mouth.

"Shh!" He released his hand.

"She's gay. That means she likes women!" Hugo whispered. He seemed unable to get the wonderful fact out of his drunken mind.

"Lynx, please talk to me!" Violet pleaded.

"What? I'm not in a very partying mood Violet! I'm going to bed!" Lynx snapped.

"I didn't mean to…"

"What?!" Lynx stopped and glared at Violet. "Didn't mean to get all embarrassed because you have a gay friend!?"

"No! You know I don't care about that!" Violet cried.

"Then what is it Violet?!"

Violet struggled to find the right way to explain. "It's just…I…I…" In that second Violet decided it was now of never. She would have to leap before she looked and prey it worked out.

Suddenly Violets lips were connected to Lynx's. It wasn't a passionate kiss. It was a forced, frightened kiss. She suddenly snapped her head away and took a step back.

Violet was panicking.

"Oh god! I'm sorry! I didn't…I shouldn't have…I -" Violet was cut off. Lynx had moved forward, grabbed her and pushed her lips against hers.

This time it was passionate. They were the only two people at Hogwarts. Violet's hands ran down Lynx's back until they reached her waist. She pulled Lynx closer to her, causing her breasts to push against hers. Lynx's hand ran across Violets check.

The display was something far more gentle and sensual then anyone believed Lynx capable of.

"That is the greatest thing I have ever seen!" Hugo blurted so loudly that it caused Lynx and Violet to break apart to look on in horror. "Please kiss her again!"

Albus didn't want his drunken relative to ruin there moment. He took the initiative and punch Hugo in head. It wasn't a hard punch but with the alcohol, it was enough to knock him out cold.

"Sorry." Albus said while he put up a field around Hugo to stop him for hitting the ground.

"I wanted to do that." Lynx smiled.

"I'll leave you two alone." Albus winked.

Both Lynx and Violet smiled. It was all the permission they needed. They quickly disappeared, no doubt to find somewhere more secluded.

Albus floated Hugo up to the Gryffindor common room. He decided to simply leave him on the couch rather than sneak/float him up into the dorms. Hopefully he wouldn't remember any of this in the morning.

Albus left Gryffindor tower and headed back to the party. He was looking forward to giving Aurora the news that Lynx and Violet had finally gotten together.

Along the way he decided to stop off at the nearest open window and have a cigarette. He found one just near to a side door that led out into the grounds.

He listened out for and sound that someone was close by. There was only silence. He opened the window a little further and lit up a cigarette. He breathed the smoke in, feeling a wave of relaxation as it entered his lungs.

"You not serious Sarah!?" A girls voice said. It was coming from below.

Albus peered out the window to see Sarah Manningsfield strut out into the grounds with two of her friends. Albus recognized one of them as Paula Neechy, a seventh year Hufflepuff. He didn't know who the other girl was.

"Why not?" Sarah said pulling a cigarette and lighter from her pocket.

"You do know that he's only fourteen?! He may look older but he's still only -" Paula objected.

"So what?!" Sarah shot back.

Albus felt extremely uncomfortable all of a sudden. They were talking about him. And yet, he found it very difficult not to listen.

"No one waits until there of age these days!" Sarah declared.

"Not everyone has lost their virginities you know." Sarah un-named friend said.

"Yeah and quite a few have!"

"Like who?"

"James Potter." Sarah said quickly.

"What?!"

"When?!" Both shrieked.

"Over the summer to Eleanor Zabini!" Sarah laughed.

Albus suddenly chocked on the smoke in his lungs. He did his best not to alert the girls with he coughing.

James lost his virginity to a Slytherin!! Haha! I wonder what Mum & Dad would think?!

"I don't believe it!" Paula said.

"I know, she isn't even all that pretty!"

"It was a one night thing. That's why they never talk." Sarah explained.

A One night stand! Why am I not surprised!

"Okay, so who else?!"

"Cody Miller." Sarah said.

Albus left like someone had just stabbed him in the gut.

"Really?! With who?"

"Who do you think?! Lennox!"

Albus's heart skipped a beat. It wasn't true! It was just more Hogwarts bullshit! It had to be!

"Last week I heard. They snuck out and went down to the lake." Sarah said.

The horrible acidic feeling in his stomach increased. He had only done testing on 3 nights last week. Aurora knew when Albus was outside practicing with his power. She could have easily avoided him.

He couldn't believe it.

"Oi! You three!" Filches voice rang out.

"Oh shit!" Sarah shrieked. The three of them darted back to the castle. Albus didn't even care if he got caught by Filch at this moment in time.

He dropped the cigarette and walked, like a zombie, towards the Dark Tower.

Imaged and thoughts of Aurora and Cody, naked and intertwined shot in and out of his mind. Every single one felt like kick in the head. He tried several times to convince him self that Hogwarts rumours were about as accurate as the Daily Prophet but he didn't buy it.

He hated himself for not talking to her sooner. She was upset. Of course she would seek solace with someone who cared for her. This was his fault.

Albus felt trapped. He couldn't stand still or think properly. He had to get away. He walked straight up to the balcony and jumped.

He took to the air and flew straight towards Hogsmead Village.

In only a few seconds he had landed by the shrieking shack.

He needed a drink. Something to take his mind of what had just happened. He walked straight into the Hogshead.

Neither Aberforth or any of his staff had seen the new Albus. He thought he was safe enough to get a drink in there. He searched his pockets and pulled out the only galleons he had left. The rest had been changed to muggle money to get booze for the party.

The Inn was practically empty. It would be closing in less than half an hour. There were 2 cloaked men sitting in the corner with quite a few empty glasses on their table. There was also an old woman sitting at a table by her self. She seemed to simply be staring at her drink, no moving.

Welcome to the lonely hearts club.

Albus approached the bar where a young, plump woman that looked very tired walked over to him.

"Fire Whiskey please." His voice was brittle.

She took one look at him and knew why he was there. Any possibility that she wouldn't serve him vanished.

She poured out a glass. "2.50."

Albus handed her the galleons and got back the change. He took a seat at the emptiest part of the pub.

As he began to sip the fire whiskey, thoughts again began running through his mind. He knew that he really didn't have any right to be angry at her. She was Cody's girlfriend. They spent time together, snogged…a lot…it was only a matter of time before they stepped the relationship up a notch.

There was also the fact that she was 17. It was completely natural for her to want to have sex.

All these logical assessments only made Albus feel worse. They had just forgiven each other and now this happens.

"Slow down will ya!" One of the two men in the corner said. The other man seemed to be even more drunk than Hugo was at the party.

"No! I won't bloody slow down! It's not right!"

Tell me about it. Albus thought.

"Look there's nothing we can do about it now! It's just the way it is!"

Albus suddenly realized that he knew those men. He didn't know there names but he had seen them before. They were Auror's. They worked for his father.

"We just gonna sit here and let them get away with it!"

"We don't have jurisdiction! It's an international matter! When Weasley get's into office, I know she'll get the rules changed! Until then we can't touch em!"

"I became an Auror to stop people like them!"

"We both did! But you know damn well what'll happen if we did! They'd start spoutin' off about judicial rights, there'd be a big investigation and then we'd ave to let em go!"

The angry man downed the rest of his fire whiskey and held up the empty glass signalling the bar lady that he wanted another.

"It's a bastard! I know that! But there's nothing we can do!"

"Nothing?! They're down at the docks right now! Unloading Merlin knows what! Non-tradable, drugs, hell there's rumours that they're even smuggling stolen House-elves! One group of Auror's could taken em down!"

"It's an international ring! It's for the Germans to sort out! We've got surveillance on em, but until the rules get changed or there's some kind of international operation, we stay away from Cardiff!"

_Rules…endless rules. I hate rules._

Something was cooking up inside Albus's heart. It felt like anger but there was something more. A craving.

He chugged the Fire whiskey which burned his throat as it went down. But as it did, it fuelled what was already powering up inside him.

_Rules don't apply to people like me._

He took another swig. The anger was now sitting side by side with excitement. He looked at the coat rack by the door. There was a hooded rain coat hanging from one of the hooks. His mind re-directed his thoughts to his pocket. The sunglasses. He thought for a second.

_It would be enough._

He downed the rest of the whiskey and stood up.

_Cardiff docks._

As he walked out of the door he grabbed the rain coat of the hook. He quickly put it on, slipped the sunglasses onto his head and took off into the skies.

_Time to do the Superhero thing._

====== OUTSIDE PETHAM - ENGLAND - UK - DECEMBER 13TH - 2020 A.D. ======

Harry, Ron, Teddy, Bill, Fleur, Victorie, Hermione and Ginny were in the lounge of Potter Manor. A few bottles of wine had been opened and there were pieces of parchment laid out all over the table and floor. Even though it was late, they had decided to get together for a quiet drink while they talked about the details of the upcoming Wizarding Convention.

Although the Convention was all but finished in terms of planning, they still liked to be thorough. It was a massive event, with wizards and witches coming in from all over the world. Representatives from Durmstrang, Salems, Beauxbatons, even students and teachers Florianópolis (The Brazilian school of magic) would be attending.

Delegates from Wizarding governments all around the world would arrive to shake hands with other diplomats and of course, rub shoulders with the heroes of the war.

Security was always a big concern with these kind of events. There would dozens of plain-clothed Auror's patrolling the grounds at Hogwarts and Hogsmead Village.

"Do you think we should pull a few people from Hogwarts and put them on escort duty?" Ron asked. "Security at the ministry seems a little light."

"I don't think we'll need them. Most of the guests will be Flooing directly to Hogwarts." Harry said before taking a sip of his wine.

"It'll be fine. No one will be stupid enough to try and do anything with that many wizards and witches up there. Hell, the director of the ACM will be there and he travels with a private army!" Teddy said whilst looking over some notes.

Teddy wasn't wrong. The Director of the American Corum of Magic had almost as much security around her as the muggle president.

"I doubt that'll be enough to stop James from trying to chat up a few of those American girls." Bill laughed.

"They won't have to. That boy is not getting out of my sight!" Ginny said.

"He's just wants to have a bit of fun." Ron laughed.

"Yeah, well imagine what he'll be like at the wedding! With a bunch of brides maids walking around.

"He'll behave." Bill assured.

"He damn well better!" Ginny growled.

"Vicky, are you sure you want an April wedding?" Hermione asked cautiously. "It's just the that the weather is always a bit funny in April…"

"I don't care if there's a torrential downpour. As long as she shows up, I'm happy." Teddy smiled and blew a kiss to his fiancé.

"Nah, I thought I might just leave you at the alter!" Victorie laughed.

"Ave you thought about ow your best man will bee?" Fleur asked.

"Harry of course." Teddy grinned.

"I love to."

"Ahh! Eet is so sweet! We will finally be a family!" Fleur chimed. "You must start calling me muzzier."

"Err…" Teddy rubbed the back of is neck and began to feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Teddy n'a avant jamais appelé n'importe qui mère! Lui donner le temps!" Victorie said quickly to her mother.

Teddy had never had parents before and there for had never actually called anyone mum or dad. It was a new experience for him and one that he was completely comfortable with. Some part of him was afraid of dishonouring his real parents by giving somebody else the title.

"Of course! You do not av to call me muzzier Teddy. Fleur is perfectly alright. Or you could try Muzzier-in-law?" She said only causing Teddy to feel even more awkward.

"Harry!" A panicked voice from the fire place suddenly broke the silence that had followed Fleur's comment.

"Castle? It's a bit late you know." Harry said to face that had appeared in the fire.

"I'm sorry sir but I just got word from our surveillance team in Cardiff! Something's kicking off down there!" Castle said frantically.

"What?!" Ron and Teddy crowed around the fireplace.

"I don't know what's happening! They're reporting a hell of a lot spell fire and screaming!"

"We never got authorization to go in there!"

"I know but someone sure as hell has!" Castle said quickly.

"You think some ones trying to hijack their cargo?" Ron asked.

"I don't know, but from the sounds of it, there's a damn war going off down there!"

"I'm on my way. Tell your guys to meet me there. Do not enter until we arrive!" Harry order.

Castle nodded before vanishing from the fire.

Teddy quickly walked over grabbed his jacket and kissed his fiancé. "Be careful!" She whispered, trying to sound strong but the fear in her voice was evident.

Ron, Harry and Teddy vanished from the house with three blasts of green fire to meet up with the other Aurors. All of them were completely unaware of what they were about to encounter.


	13. Alpha

========== ALPHA =========

====== CARDIFF DOCKS - WALES - UK - DECEMBER 13TH - 2020 A.D. ======

Harry, Ron and Teddy Floo'd as close to Cardiff docks as possible and then Apparated the rest of the way. They were met by 6 other Auror's including Castle. They were just of Queens road which ran parallel to the Queen Alexandra dock. There was dozens of boats floating in the harbour and hundreds of huge metal cargo containers all over the place. A few yards down the road there were a line of massive warehouses.

"Alright, what the hell is going on?" Harry asked immediately.

"We've been watching the place all night! We saw their ship arrive, they started unloading everything into 3rd warehouse down. About 15 of them went in. The place was quite for about 20 minutes then all hell broke loose!" One of the Auror's reported.

"You see anyone go inside?"

"No. We got a bit closer to see what was happening but all we could hear was wand fire and a lot of yelling. Sounds like the warehouse is being ripped apart!"

"Alright, let go. Wee don't know what we're dealing with so watch each others back. Back up's on the way but they won't arrive for about another 10 minutes."

Harry, Teddy, Ron and the rest of the Auror's moved very quickly down the road towards the warehouse. As they got closer there was no sound what so ever coming from the warehouse. The docks were eerily quiet.

Harry wonder whether or not they had arrived too late.

They moved up, hugging the side of the warehouse until they reached a door. All of them pulled out there wands. There was no need for 'Alohomora'. The door was already open a crack.

Very gently, Harry pushed the door open.

The warehouse was quite dark. Only a few of the lights inside were on and there was smoke coming from somewhere, that had covered most of the place in a sort of hunting fog.

Harry and the Auror's entered quietly.

Once inside, Harry gave the silent command to split into three groups. Harry, Teddy and Castle went up the middle, while Ron and two others took the left. The three remaining Auror's moved up the right.

Despite the size of the warehouse, it was strewn with huge cargo containers and machinery, giving the Auror's a lot of cover as they moved up. There were interlaced walkways above there heads where people would control the indoor cranes from to move the containers.

"AHH!" Some screamed in the distance.

Suddenly there was a volley of spell fire from the far end of the warehouse, followed by a massive CRASH and what sounded like metal being smashed together.

More spells shot through the air, some of them bouncing around the warehouse, hitting the roof, walls, containers before finally dieing.

Suddenly A great blinding explosion of light illuminated the entire warehouse. Like a massive flash bang grenade had just gone off. Harry and the others turned away and shielded their eyes from the intense brightness. The light disappeared instantly and for a few seconds there was only silence.

_WHAM!_

A body flew past Ron and slammed into the wall of a container. The man was bloodied and battered and barely alive. Ron checked for a pulse. As soon as he found one, he commanded the other two Auror's to take him to safety.

Ron turned to the direction that the body had come from to see a hooded figure walk through the smoke. His face was covered by the darkness of his hood but from his hands Ron could see it was a white male. Tall with a heavy build but he wasn't carrying a wand!

The figure completely ignored Ron and turned left at an opening between two containers a few feet ahead of him. Ron, cautiously gave chase but as soon as he turned the corner the man was gone.

He continued around the cargo containers with his wand gripped tightly in his hand.

Suddenly what looked like a 'Stupify' spell shot past him and hit the wall. A man, absolutely terrified came running through the smoke and slammed straight into him.

"HELP ME!" He sounded German.

"Calm down! What's happening?!"

But before the German man could speak again, he looked around to see the hooded figure appear out of the darkness. Walking like a machine with a purpose, he wasn't stopping for anything.

The German man raised his wand and began firing spells at the hooded man. Ron felt fear grip his insides as every single spell simply bounced of the man, not even slowing him down. The spells ricocheted off the container walls causes sparks to fly everywhere.

As soon as the man was about 9 feet away, he throw a punch into the air. A wave of white energy erupted from his fist and slammed into the German man as if it was bullet train. He was blasted backwards thirty feet through the air and into the wall of a cargo container.

Ron raised his wand but as soon as he did, he felt something grab him hard around his body, but there was nothing there and the hooded man was still 5 feet away from him. He was lifted into the air and pushed against the container next to him. He floated there, unable to move, as if he was glued to the wall.

The hooded man walked up to him. As he got closer Ron saw the tint of a pair of sunglasses. He could only just make out the mans mouth but it was obvious, he was smiling.

Ron used all the strength in his body to try and move his wand but couldn't.

The hooded man laughed quietly. He shook his head like a parent would do to a naughty child.

Ron hadn't been this scared since he first met the Acromantula 'Aragog' in the forbidden forest.

Suddenly the grin on the hooded mans face vanished. Something had caught his attention. He began smelling the air.

After a second or two he growled like an angry wolf, then his hand snapped back like it was grabbing the air. Suddenly Ron flew off of the wall, through the air and hit the ground 10 feet away. He groaned as he picked him self up.

The hooded man was gone.

Suddenly more spell fire came from around the corner of the container.

Ron ran around to the side to see three Auror's firing spells at the Hooded Man. Again not one spell managed to actually strike him. They bounce off and jetted around the warehouse like out of control fireworks.

To his complete shock, The hooded man punched an entire container towards them like a giant metal carriage. He made it look easy.

"LOOK OUT!" Ron's voice barely managed to break through the sound of screeching metal.

The Auror's jumped out of the way as the container bawled into the side of another one. The impact ripped a hole in the side and the contents of the container poured out all over the floor. Tiny dark red Venomous Tentacula seeds were spread all over the floor.

Ron looked up to see Harry, Teddy and Castle running across the walk way above. Castle and Harry spilt off to the right and left as they reach an intersection. Teddy continued forward.

As he ran, he looked down over the railings, trying to spot the unknown attacker. In the corner he could see a forklift that had been blasted apart and that was now on fire. Then he saw him.

The Hooded Man power walking through the smoke, acting like the Auror's weren't even there.

He was heading for the exit at the back of the warehouse.

He walked past a container that had been busted open. There were half a dozen Muggle motor cycles lying on the ground next to the broken cargo container. Some had been completely ripped apart, whilst others had simply fallen on their sides.

Teddy saw his opening and took aim. He fire spell after spell at the Hooded Man. Each on bounced of his back like he was being protected by an invisible shield.

The man stopped and slowly turned to look at his attacker.

Teddy suddenly felt a wave of fear hit him. There was something terribly familiar about that man.

The Hooded Man growled with utter disgust.

Suddenly he turned and grabbed one of the motorbikes that was lying on it's side. He picked it up as if it was nothing more than a paper weight and lunched it at Lupin.

"TEDDY!" Harry came bawling out of nowhere

He jumped, pushing Teddy out of the way just as the motorcycle, that was thrown with such incredible force, smashed straight through the walkway, demolishing it in a second. The steel walk way on either side of missing section gave way and collapsed, leaving both sides dipping down like a slide. Harry and Teddy hit the deck clutching the broken side for dear life.

Teddy groaned in pain. His shoulder had been knocked out of the socket as Harry had hit him but the pain wasn't enough for him to ignore what was happening. Both he and Harry looked down with shock and terror on their faces to see the Hooded Man pick up another motorcycle.

He launched it but this time he threw it straight up towards the roof of the warehouse.

The bike slammed through the roof, leaving a massive hole. The Hooded Man pivoted on his legs and pushed off.

He blasted through the hole in the roof and off into the darkness leaving the destroyed warehouse and shocked Auror's behind. A second later the sound of the sonic boom rattled the entire docks.

Ron slowly moved over to the last spot the man had stood on before taking to the air.

"What the bloody hell was that?!"

_SMASH!_

The motorcycle that had been thrown through the roof came smashing back through the hole landing only a few feet away from Ron, who had automatically hit the deck.

====== HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - DECEMBER 14TH - 2020 A.D. ======

The quiet school was blissfully unaware of what had taken place in Cardiff just a few hours earlier. Albus had no idea how long the party may have gone of for after he had left. He hadn't bothered to return to it after arriving back at the castle.

He had simply dropped the rain coat on the floor, put the sunglasses on the table, gotten undressed and gone to sleep. For some reason, what had just happened in Cardiff wasn't on his mind at all. If fact the moment he had returned to Hogwarts all he had thought about was Aurora.

Aurora and Cody.

It made him feel sick every time it entered his mind. It been a part of his strange dreams, mixed in with the Door made of Light, a blond woman, the carnage in the warehouse and a strange feeling of conviction.

When he woke up, he found that he had, once again started floating in his sleep. This time he was able to stop him self from hitting the ground.

He had only slept for about three hours but felt as good as new. It was still early and few, if any of the students would be awake. He grabbed a towel and made his way down to the nearest bathroom.

As the hot water sprayed against his skin a great feeling of righteousness over took him. He felt empowered, even more than when he had found out about his abilities.

He had taken on and severally kicked the crap out of 15 criminals and stood up to some of the toughest Auror's the country had to offer. And he didn't have a mark on him.

Ron Weasley and His father were both heroes and war veterans. They had gone up against the worst of the worst on more than one occasion. They had fought in some of the worst situations imaginable and had come out on top. Often pulling victory out of even the most hopeless situations.

And yet, against him, they were nothing. He could have crushed them like insects if he wanted to. Not that he did, they were family. He had lost his temper when Teddy attacked him. He had been trying to leave and the stupid hybrid had shot him in the back! That and the sink of a werewolf had overloaded his senses and forced him to show him why he shouldn't even think about attacking an Anomaly.

He had had one single moment of fear throughout the entire fight and that was when his father had come running out of nothing and almost got hit with the motorbike. Thank god his father still had some spring in his step.

He would have been liquidated on the spot if he hadn't have moved so quickly.

Ah, forget it! Nobody died. So they got a little knocked around. It was nothing serious. They've probably had their injuries taken care of already. Hell they've probably had worse from Quidditch! And besides, they should have stayed out of the way! I was doing their jobs for them!

Albus giggled to himself.

The look on Ron's face was priceless! He actually thought I was gonna kill him! Hehe! Oh well! Serves him right for trying to blast my mates hand off!

Smug, egotistical pride was creeping into his head.

I was standing 3 feet away from him and he still had no idea it was me! If only Dad had thought about wearing a disguise or something. Maybe he would have avoided all the press.

After the shower he looked at his appearance in the mirror. Not one bruise, cut or burn anywhere on his body. In fact he felt great. Apart from the horrible sensation that entered his stomach when ever he thought about Aurora screwing Cody, he never felt more alive.

I could get used to this Superhero thing.

===== MINISTRY OF MAGIC - LONDON - UK - 14TH DECEMBER - 2020 A.D. =====

Teddy's shoulder had been healed very quickly but was still quite achy. It was nothing compared to the anger, frustration and complete outrage that was swimming around inside him at the moment though.

After securing the area and getting the wounded people to St. Mungo's, Harry had alerted the entire ministry to the existence of a very powerful and dangerous man that they had just encountered. But even with his war record and the legend that went with the name Harry James Potter, people were still dubious about what actually happened.

The more they had tried to explain, the more looks of odd disbelief they had received. Most people believed that there simply was nothing that powerful in existence. Then came the real outrage.

D.I.I., Department of Internal Investigations said they wanted to speak to Harry, Teddy and Ron. That was the biggest insult of them all.

D.I.I. had been created just after Harry was promoted to the head of the Auror department. It was both a blessing and a curse. It was a department dedicated to stamping out corruption in the ministry. It launched investigations into just about anything it suspected and absolutely no one was let off the hook. They complete violated peoples lives during their investigations and because they often delivered very good results, they were allowed to continue.

In the months after it's creation, over a dozen people at the ministry had lost their jobs and some had even been sent to Azkaban. So when D.I.I. said they wanted a word, people got very nervous.

Teddy had been confined to a private room, away from both Harry and Ron and was refused visitors until D.I.I. had finished questioning him. He was now sitting at a small desk in the centre of the room. They called it a private room but he what it really was. It was an interrogation room.

Teddy wasn't scared to be questioned, but he was angry that people didn't believe what he had told them.

The door to the private room opened and a man in his early 40's entered. He was wearing a very business like suit and had a roll of parchment and a quill in his hand.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Mr. Lupin. My name is Alfred Taggart." He said taking a seat across from Teddy.

Teddy said nothing. He knew who he was. He was a wizard that burned witches & wizards. Teddy had seen several people loose their jobs for things that he felt were completely excusable. Taggart however didn't.

"Why don't we start at the beginning." He said.

For the next 10 minutes, Teddy spelled out, in great detail all the events of the evening. Taggart had said almost nothing throughout the conversation. His quill had jotted down everything Teddy said while Taggart remained stony and emotionless.

"You had been drinking just before Auror Castle contacted you, correct?" Taggart said suddenly.

Teddy knew this was coming but it didn't stop it from making him even more angry.

"We were off duty! If theirs an emergency we go back on duty, no matter what we are in the middle of! That's how it works!" Teddy hissed.

"Hmm…" Taggart said looking over a few of the notes. "You say this man displayed 'Super strength'…is that correct?"

"Yes."

"And he flew?"

"Yes." Teddy was loosing his temper.

"And he didn't use a wand?"

"No!"

"I see." Taggart had more than enough contempt in his voice to finally push Teddy over the edge.

"I AM NOT LYING ABOUT THIS!" Teddy was on his feet so quickly that he knocked the chair over. "That man or thing or whatever the hell it was, was more powerful than anything I have ever seen! It pushed a 15 ton cargo container out the way like it was a child! It threw a motorbike like it was a bloody Quaffle! It blasted a hole in the roof and flew out of the warehouse! Give me some Veritaslium if you don't believe me!" He roared.

Taggart looked a Teddy for a few seconds then began rolling up the parchment. "Thank you, that's all I need."

Taggart exited the room and left the door open, signalling that Teddy was allowed to leave.

Teddy went straight up to the Auror Department where Harry, Ron, Castle, Hermione, Ginny, Victorie, Bill and Fleur were all waiting.

He ranted about the bullshit that D.I.I. was giving them for a few minutes before finally settling down. Manly due to the quiet words of comfort that Victorie whispered in his ear.

"Teddy, you know I'm not siding with D.I.I. but you have to admit, it's a little hard to grasp." Hermione said cautiously.

Teddy shot an icy look at her. "Wonderful! One more person that doesn't believe us!"

"Babe, he's telling the truth!" Ron objected.

"I didn't say I didn't believe him! I just meant…like them, I'm having a hard time understanding this."

"Understanding what?! That there is an immensely powerful man flying around who almost killed us?!" Teddy hissed.

Hermione turned to Harry who was staying quiet and looked deep in thought. "Harry, the kind of power your describing doesn't exist. The only person who even came the slightest bit close to it died 22 years ago!"

"No." Harry said absently. Everyone in the room went silent to listen to him. "My scar didn't burn and…if it was him…he would…I would have known. No, this is something else…"

"Something more powerful if you ask me!" Teddy blurted.

Everyone looked at him in disbelief. "Look, I know I wasn't in the war, I never saw what Voldemort was capable of, but from what I've heard he wasn't…invincible! This guy…I mean, it's like we weren't even there. He didn't give a shit about us. We were nothing to him!" Teddy had started pacing while trying to find the right words to explain it.

"There…there was no effort! He didn't need to make an effort because it was so…easy for him. He knew damn well that we couldn't touch him…and…when…when he looked at me, there was something there…like…I don't what it was. But he just seemed so disgusted that I would even try to attack him…"

The room was silent. There was fear in Teddy's voice.

"He had me. He could have killed me in a heartbeat but he didn't. He just looked at me like I was a child. Like I was pathetic. He…he didn't even touch me but I could feel something holding me against that wall. I couldn't move." Ron said darkly. "And then he started…smelling…like he was smelling the air…"

"We can't keep this under wraps. People need to be warned." Harry said suddenly.

"We could probably catch the Prophet, get it out on the morning issue." Ginny suggested.

"Hold on a sec. I know this guy was…well, let's face it, terrifying, but…he was there for the smugglers, right? He could have killed us but he didn't…maybe…were not dealing with…a bad guy…"

Harry shot daggers at Castle. "He threw a motorbike at my GODSON! 7 of those smugglers are in critical condition at the hospital, the others won't be walking around anytime soon! You what us to just overlook that?!"

Castle stood up looking as enraged as Harry was. "That's not what I meant! I'm saying that maybe this guy doesn't want to take over the fucking world! We don't even know that he's our enemy!"

"We don't know what that thing was, let alone it's intentions!" Teddy joined the argument on the side of his godfather.

"You get people panicked and start telling them that this guy is evil and he might not like it!" Castle roared. "He might pay us a little visit!"

"People have to be warned! There is simply no telling what this guy is going to do next!" Teddy spat.

"What you mean other than crush one of the biggest smuggling operations in wizarding history! There were Chimaera eggs, Acromatula venom, Venomous Tentacula seeds not to mention all those body bikes with illegal flying charms on them! He stopped all that in less than 20 minutes!"

"He did a hell of a lot more than that in 20 minutes!" Harry hissed.

"He could have done a lot worse!"

Realizing that this argument was going nowhere, Ron turned to Hermione. "You're the ranking official. It's your call."

Hermione though for a second then took a breath. "If this man is as dangerous as you say he is, then people need to be warned. Inform the Prophet."

Castle huffed and stormed off in defeat.

===== HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - DECEMBER 14TH - 2020 A.D. =====

The great hall was full of students, several of which were sporting nasty hangovers. Hugo in particular looked very worse for wear, which was indicated by the fact that he actually wasn't eating.

Several of the professors looked very annoyed that students had obviously been drinking and were now hung over. Arken looked livid.

There were a few exceptions however. Lynx and Violet had never looked more cheerful. They would steal glances and smile at each other every few seconds and Albus suspected that he were playing footsy under the table.

Aurora also seemed to have lost none of her glowing beauty from the night before. He looked over to Albus and smiled happily. Obviously still pleased that they were no longer fighting. Albus had refused to let his jealousy get the better of him this time. Although it was fake, he smiled back at her.

James entered the great hall, looking just as bad as Hugo. He took a seat just across from Albus and began downing juice like there was no tomorrow.

"How you feeling?"

"Don't ask! For Merlin's sake, don't ask!"

Albus suddenly remembered what else he had overheard from Sarah Manningsfield the night before. "So…how's Eleanor?"

"Who?" James said absently while pouring more juice into his glass.

"Eleanor Zabini…you know…the girl you shagged."

James suddenly spat out all the juice in his mouth all over the table. He coughed and looked at Albus in complete shock.

"You…you…if you tell anyone I swear I'll -"

"You'll do what?" Albus dared. He opened his palm and James juice glass shot across the table and into his hand.

"Hey! Your spos to be keeping that a secret!"

"Oh what are they going to do? Give me detention? Throw me in Azkaban?" Albus mocked. The rules no longer applied to him and there was no way a prison could hold him. "Besides, I think people might be a little more shocked that James Sirius Potter, Gryffindor Quidditch extraordinaire has been poking a Slytherin!"

"Shut up! Please don't tell anyone!" James pleaded.

"Ahh, are you two in love?" Albus laughed.

"No! Look it's just…friends with benefits!" James said quietly.

"Don't worry. Your keeping my secret so I spos I could keep yours." Albus assured his brother.

"Mum would shit a hippogriff if she found out!" James treated.

"Yes she would!"

"How did you find out anyway?" James asked. "Please tell me you didn't see us!"

"What, you think I sneak around your dorm room at night or something?"

"No, I mean, when your…airborne." He said the last part quietly. "I mean the bit down by the lake is pretty well covered but -"

"Wait, down by the lake?" Albus was confused.

"Yeah…it wasn't my first choice! But with bloody wards up everywhere, it has to be outside!" James growled.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know…underage students can't have sex in the castle! That's why me an Ele have to sneak off to the grounds." James whispered.

"You weren't with her…last week were you?" Albus asked very carefully. He didn't want to get his hopes up but he couldn't help it.

"Ah shit! You did see us!"

Albus's heart did a back flip of joy.

It was James and Eleanor! Not Cody and Aurora! Aurora hadn't slept with him! Well, can't be sure of that but it's looking a lot less likely.

A huge smile crept up onto Albus' face. He looked over to the Ravenclaw table, just as Aurora raised her head and saw him. Albus couldn't help him self. He winked at her.

She gave him a half confused smile as if to say 'What are you so happy about?'

Just then, there was a screech from above. The owls had arrived with the morning Prophet. Albus wasn't worried. He doubted very seriously that there would be anything about his escapades in there. No one would believe them.

He looked over to the Ravenclaws again to see a paper land in front of Aurora. She opened it up and began to scan the headlines.

Her face began to tighten up and wave of shock and anger washed over her. She looked up very slowly.

_Oh shit! That actually reported it!_

The hate filled Ravenclaw that had been protecting him since his arrival at Hogwarts stood up. Albus looked away. He actually felt slightly ashamed. He looked to his right to see none other than his cousin giving him an equally enraged look. A copy of the prophet was laid out in front of her.

His eyes moved towards the staff table. Tannis was looking directly at him another paper sitting next to him.

_This is so not good._

===== MINISTRY OF MAGIC - LONDON - UK - DECEMBER 14TH - 2020 A.D. =====

Taggart entered an office in the Department of International Magical Co-operation. The name on the office door said N. Marshall. - Portkey inquiries.

Inside there was a man in his mid 60's sitting behind a desk full of paper work. The office was a tiny box room, with barely enough space for a desk and two chairs. Taggart took as seat in the empty chair.

"I take it you've heard." Taggart said.

"Yes, this complicates things." Marshall said.

"He's powerful." Taggart stated simply.

"Yes. And stupid. The Lennox girl will have already told him about us. He went to those docks anyway."

"You want us to get rid of her?"

"She's just a witch. But if she get's in the way we'll deal with her."

"Okay. What about this other one in Canada?" Taggart asked.

"He's already been taken care of. The Daggra brothers brought him in yesterday."

"Alive?"

Marshall nodded. "Mathis needs a new test subject. He's sedated at the temple."

"What about Potter? He can't be as powerful as they say he is but we should probably do some recon." Taggart suggested.

"No, we're gonna back off for the time being. Wait for him to slip up."

"Your sure that's wise? What if he goes public again?"

"It won't matter. He'll make a mistake…they always do. And when he does, we'll be ready." Marshall said simply.

"Alright. I'll keep you posted." Taggart said before leaving the office.

===== HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - DECEMBER 14TH - 2020 A.D. =====

Aurora, Tannis, Scorpius, James, Rose, Violet and Lynx had taken various positions around the headmasters office with Albus in the centre. Sitting in the chair as if he was being set upon by the Spanish Inquisition. They had been taking turns, condemning his actions, belittling his decisions, warning him of his recklessness.

Attacking him.

At least that's how it felt. Like he had been nailed to the cross and they were now taking turns to spear him.

Aurora was leader of this. She above all others had been utterly outraged that he would do such a thing. After the buckets of sweat she had poured into his protection, he was throwing it all away. He was in the wrong.

He had explained everything that happened last night, with no shame whatsoever. He had even told them about Ron, Harry and Teddy. He left nothing out.

They're voices drifted in and out of his head but he wasn't really listening. He was in his own world, trying to make heads or tails of life it's self.

He watched her lips move, felt her heart beat increase, studied her every action. She was intoxicating. It only added to his distance from her. From everyone.

All I've endured. Walked these halls like a ghost for three years. Tried so hard but never managed…never managed to actually be what they wanted me to be…All I could have given. All I could have wanted…moved through this world like water. Only wanting…never taking…watching…never touching…

_How far have I come?_

She passed in front of him, her perfect charcoal hair swinging through the air. Her voice was rising but was still just a distant echo to him.

_How could I go? How far will I go? Am I just a piece of you? Is the world just one big soul and we are all just tiny pieces of it? Is that destiny? Is this what I am meant to be?_

She was what he truly wanted. He had never been more certain than right now. He had been infatuated with her for longer than he could remember. But this was different. This was what most people pray that they will find every day of their lives.

This was love.

_I'd give up this power. Rip the world in half and bring the heavens down…all for her. I'd give up everything if I could have her. Why am I the one?_

"You attacked your own family Albus! What were you thinking?!" Her voice reverberated around his mind for a moment before fading out again.

His mind was talking directly to her, but the words were silent.

_What would it matter…the light of my existence, stamped out in a heartbeat… I'd die for you… And why would they care? What difference would it make? Would I be with you in the next world?… Would you have me there?…I f that's what it takes then I'll do it…what else do I have except you?_

"Albus you have to be smarter than this!" Her voice rattled again.

_Why should I be afraid to die? I'm yours…I belong to you… but your not mine. You can't be mine here. You refuse to be… I need you…you are my life…without you, there is no life…are you beyond life?… if you are then that's where I'll go…and If I reach the other side of those dark clouds before you. If I go to that place first…I'll wait for you… I'll wait forever…_

"Your not just putting your self in danger your putting everyone of your kind in danger and…" Her voice disappeared once again and was replaced by the vivid image of the Door. The Door of Light.

His Door.

_Why am I punished so much? Have I not served you the way I should have? Is it wrong of me…to want… To want her? Is it wrong of me to want love? To be one with another. Isn't that the goal of all of us. Doesn't that make the world worth living?_

Again the door flashed in his mind. It was calling him.

What is it you want from me? What am I suppose to do now? Where are you? In my heart…in my soul…in my world…are you within her? You've shown me the other world! The world where everything is perfect. Why won't you let me be part of it? Why won't you let me be happy? …Speak to me!

The room suddenly disappeared. He was there again. Looking at it. The Door. Only he wasn't in a room made of light this time. He was in a cold, dark corridor. Merciless stone walls liked the hall, leading him towards the door at the end.

_Be my strength… and I will be yours…I will not betray you…_

He knew in that second that he wasn't alone. He wasn't wrong. He was on the right path.

"Albus! Are you listening?!" Aurora demanded. Her voice had suddenly shot through his mind.

"Yes." He said instantly.

"Then why?! What could have possessed you to do such a thing?!"

He took a breath, thinking about what had just happened in his minds eye. It wasn't a dream. I wasn't wrong. It was destiny. "I saw something last night…clear as day…" He was simply staring into space but never more focused in his whole life. "I saw, criminals, bad people…truly sorry for what they had done."

Aurora couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You didn't reform those men! They were scared of dieing and that's all!"

"No, they were afraid of something else. In those few short minutes, they realized that there was something more in this world. Those kind of men, they hate the law! They'd kill Auror's without thinking twice. But then they knew that a stint in Azkaban…being arrested…being beaten up wasn't the worst thing that could happen to them! They realized just how big life was…And when those broken bastards wake up -"

"When they wake up?! 7 of them are in critical condition! They don't even know if they will wake up!"

Albus sighed and rubbed his face.

"I have all this power…and yet I'm doing nothing with it! This is a shitty world and people need help! And if I can help then why shouldn't I?!" He growled.

"This world doesn't work like that! There are no superheroes in this world! People with extraordinary abilities aren't revered and praised in this world Albus, they're feared! People are terrified of the unknown! And when they get scared they panic! And when they panic they get violent! People like you won't get put on a pedestal! They'll get shoved under a microscope and poke and prodded with knives and needles! They'll cut you open to see what makes you tick! Why do you think the wizarding world stays hidden?!" She screamed.

"Your right. People are afraid of what they don't understand. And there are very few people that understand me. But that doesn't stop me from doing good. It doesn't stop me from changing things!"

"Change! THIS WORLD ISN'T READY FOR CHANGE!"

"It better be!" He stood, a look of reckless excitement in his eyes. "Because I'm about to shake things up. I took on 22 people last night and came out with out a scratch! I smash smuggling ring in less than 20 minutes! I had the bad guys running scared! You say this world isn't ready for change! TOUGH SHIT! IT'S NEVER BEEN READY!"

He was moving towards her. She no longer intimidated him. None of them did. He couldn't have her love, but he was going to make sure that others could. Innocent people that deserved good lives would have them!

"Change just happens! People either adjust or they don't! And the ones that want to carry on, trying to rip this world apart now have something to fear…me!"

Aurora had never looked so shocked in her entire life. All of them were stunned in silence.

"Albus…" It was barely a whisper that escaped her mouth. "What's happening to you?"

"I've evolved!"

"This power…it's going to your head! Your not invincible!" She cried.

Albus could see that she was fighting back tears. She was scared. Not just because of what he was proposing, she feared for his life.

"I'm in control!"

"You threw a motorbike at Teddy Lupin!"

"He shot me in the back!"

"Was that before or after you started throwing Cargo Containers at Auror's!" Rose growled.

Albus shot her an icy glare which prompted Scorpius to step forward.

"Al, seriously mate…you can't just wake up one day and decide to save the world!" He tried.

"Why not?"

"Because…because…it's just not…possible!"

"Everything is impossible…until someone actually does it!"

"But Albus!" This time it was Rose speaking but with just as much fear in her voice. "The Clerics…they -"

"If the Clerics want me…I'll make it easy for them to find me!"

"NO!" Aurora screamed, silencing the room. "No! Please! Albus, you've never fought against them before! You don't know what they're capable of!"

"They don't know what I'm capable of!"

She practically fell backwards the moment he said it. Like his words had pushed her away.

"You said they could track me! When I use my powers? Well I used them a lot last night and they didn't show! Why not?" He wait for her to answer but she didn't. "Maybe they're afraid of me?"

Tears of pure fear were now running down Aurora's face. Only Albus could make her cry like this. She walked over to him and then suddenly her arms where around him. He was locked in her tight embrace and she wasn't letting go. "Don't start thinking like that! Please don't do this. I'm begging you!"

Albus's defences with shattered. He was vulnerable.

"I can' loose you as well!"

She moved apart from him slightly so that she could look him in the eye. Although drenched in tears and red, her wolf like eyes were as beautiful as ever. He couldn't look away. Everything inside him was screaming to kiss her.

"Please Albus!" She begged.

Albus looked away. He had no idea that his actions could cause her this much pain. Suddenly the image of her, lying dead in the unknown street shot through his mind.

What if he caused that? What if by continuing to play the superhero, he put her into that hell. What if he was the reason she died.

NO! He wouldn't allow it! He give up everything for her!

"Alright…" He breathed. "I won't…I'll stay here…"

Aurora embraced him so tightly that they could have been one. They never wanted to let each other go. And from that embrace alone, Albus knew, she loved him as well.


	14. Fate's Cruelty

===== FATE'S CRUELTY =====

===== HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - DECEMBER 16TH - 2020 A.D. =====

Two days.

Two of the worse days of his life. Not because anything bad had happened to him but because once again, he was forced to walk around in a shell of normalcy. Pretending to be a slightly older looking student with absolutely nothing extraordinary about him. He couldn't stand it.

He actually had trouble looking at him self in the mirror. It wasn't cowardice but it certainly felt like it. Why should he have to hide. He was the apex of evolution and yet he is the one that has to skulk around in the shadows, like a nobody.

He needed to get away. That night he had decided to go for a walk and had now ended up inside the forbidden forest. He didn't care. It's not like there was anything in that forest that could hurt him.

Aurora drifted in and out of his mind. She had become even more overprotective in the last two days. She barely left him alone and when she wasn't around, Lynx and Violet would be. Obviously to keep an eye on Al when she couldn't. To make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

Stupid! Like helping people is stupid! Doing the right thing is stupid! Being what I am is stupid!

That was what hit him hardest about all this. Every single one of them, in one way or another wanted him to be something that he's not. And to him, that was like asking a Shark to be a Horse! What was commonly known as an exercise in futility.

He didn't know how much longer he would be able to keep this up. Especially when he was been spurred on by the door. It had agree with his actions, he knew it! It was please with what he had done!

He had smelt what those smugglers were transporting and it was no where near harmless. Chimarea Egg shells and Acromantula Venom were key ingredients of Wicked - The wizarding worlds equivalent of Heroin. Just as addictive and just as dangerous.

How many people have I just saved from that?!

He continued to walk deeper into the forest as he pondered a possible number of lives he may have saved.

He caught a whiff of something close by. He was being followed.

"I know your there. You can come out, I'm not gonna hurt you." Albus called.

Very slowly and cautiously, a young and beautiful female Centaur moved out into the open from behind a large tree trunk. She was smaller than the Frienze, whom Albus had met several times before. She also had a jet black stallions body and long wavy hair. She looked at him shyly, the same why a person might look at a celebrity.

"You're Syra aren't you?" Albus said pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.

"You know my name?" The Centaur asked carefully.

"Yeah, Hagrid's told me about you. Your Bane's daughter right?" He lit the cigarette.

"Hagrid is kind." She nodded.

"Yeah, he's a big old softy. So, why you following me?"

Syra went shy again and looked away.

"Oh, I see." Al smiled. "You been watching me haven't you?"

She nodded, still looking away from him.

"Have you told anyone what I can do?" Albus asked adding some intimidation for good measure.

She shook her head fiercely. "My father and the other know. But we will tell no one!" She was afraid of him.

"Good. It's better if people don't know what I am." Albus hated admitting that fact. People would be afraid of him if they knew what he was truly capable of. It's why he decided to go in disguise. At least that way he was just a faceless fighter, trying to help the world.

She finally looked up and moved slightly closer to him. "What are you? You are not a wizard."

"I'm an Anomaly…it's complicated." He smiled.

"You're power…where does it come from?" She asked.

"Been wondering that myself lately." He breathed out a lung full of smoke. "Some people think that it's Evolution, others think it's a gift from God. Personally I think it's a little of both."

"What will you do with it?"

"That is a very good question." He sighed.

"Syra!" A gruff deep voice came from the forest. "You should not be speaking with him!"

"You must be Bane." Albus grinned.

Bane glared at Albus. He moved up in between his daughter and Albus.

"Relax little fella. I'm not gonna hurt ya girl."

"You are dangerous." The large Centaur stated.

"Yes I am." Albus smiled.

"Not because of your power. Because of your future." Bane snapped causing Albus to raise his eyebrows. "Mars is in alignment. It is not safe to be around you."

"Mars? The bringer of war?" Albus couldn't help but look to the heavens. "Do you see war in my future?"

"War is in all of our futures now." Bane turned away from Albus and quickly walked off towards the direction he came from. "Syra come!"

The young Centaur gave Albus a crooked smile before leaving to catch up with her father.

War. He could handle war. What he couldn't handle was hiding. Albus stared at the heavens a while longer wondering whether or not they held any real answers or if they were just very pretty reminders of just how big the universe is.

He finished his cigarette and walked back towards the ground.

As he approached the spot that he would usually start at before flying to the dark tower, he caught a whiff of a very familiar scent. Aurora.

He sighed and turned to see her walking over to him.

"You know this whole spying thing is getting a little old Aurora." He sighed.

"Who said I was spying on you?" She smiled.

"Well then, you obviously can't stand to be away from me." Albus had a cocky grin on his face.

"You know, this new ego of yours is starting to take away from your likability…I kinda liked the humble Albus."

His face went stony. "And how much did you like the old Albus?"

Aurora sighed. "Please don't start this again Al. It always leads to us fighting and we've done enough of that to last a life time!"

Albus moved closer to her. He wanted to look her in the eye. "Why are you so determined not to be with me? You feel something for me Aurora I know you do!"

She looked away. He could hear her heart beat increasing.

"Just tell me."

"Because I know what will happen!" She snapped immediately. "I'm human! Your not!"

"You think I care about that?"

"You should! It's not in your nature to just settle for a lower life form!" She sighed.

"You are not a lower life form!"

"I didn't come out her to talk about this!" She hissed.

"Fine!" Albus growled back. "Why are you here?"

"You've been invited to Hogsmead."

"What?"

"You wanted to meet the others didn't you?"

Albus didn't know what to say. He had wondered on and off when he would meet his own kind and now it was finally here. He didn't know whether to be excited or nervous.

"Come on." She growled and began walking back to the castle. Albus followed her.

They walked in silence, Aurora was clearly not in a talkative mood and Albus knew that anything he said would quickly become an argument. He decided to bite his tongue for the time being. Together they headed to the Room of Requirement. Once inside the famous passageway that led to the Hogshead and was used a great deal during the battle of Hogwarts, materialized in the wall.

They made they're way down the tunnel until they came to the portal opening on the other side. Aurora opened it and climbed through first. As she did Albus caught a whiff of something that smelt very odd. He cautiously climbed through the portal hole.

As soon as he was through he spotted Lincoln. He has masqueraded as a drunken Irishman the last time they had met, now he was simple sitting at a table with a drink in front of him and grin on his face. But that wasn't where the odd smell was coming from. Lincoln had a very unique and potent scent. Almost like burnt toffee. He felt slightly unnerved being in the empty pub. He got the distinct feeling that both Lincoln and the girl were studying his every move.

The smell he just couldn't place was coming from the young girl standing behind him. Although she was quite incredible to look at, she seemed pale and had dark bags under her eyes. Then Albus clocked it.

"Albus, this is Lincoln." Aurora said quietly.

"Yeah, we've met." Lincoln smiled.

"So you're American now?" Albus asked noticing Lincoln's accent.

"Well my Grandfather was Irish so technically I'm still Irish as well."

"Huh." Albus shrugged.

"This is my sister Amelia." Lincoln indicated the girl behind him.

Albus stared at her for a few seconds. "And how long has she been a Vampire?"

"Six years." She answered quickly whilst looking Albus up and down. She turned and looked at Aurora with a seductive grin on her face. "He smells good, Can I keep him?"

Aurora rolled her eyes.

"Where's Aberforth?" Albus asked looking around expecting to see him somewhere.

"In the cellar. Confunded." Amelia smiled. "This is a private meeting."

Albus couldn't help but be quite impressed. Although he wasn't nearly as good a magic as his late brother, Aberforth was nevertheless a Dumbledore and quite powerful, so Confunding him couldn't have been easy. He noticed the wand that was poking slightly out of Amelia's pocket. Her handy work no doubt.

"She's upstairs." Lincoln said simply.

"Alright, come on." Aurora beckoned Albus to the stairs. He followed her.

At the top of the stairs Aurora stopped. "This is as far as I go." She said nervously. "I'm going back to Hogwarts, I'll see you tomorrow."

He watched her leave and felt the need to say something but no words came out.

Albus felt strangely alone as he entered the door at the top of the stairs. His feelings vanished the moment he opened the door. Suddenly memories came flooding back. He was four years old again, in the garden of Potter Manor. He had been visited by an Angel. And here she was again.

A warm feeling entered his entire body and he felt so happy that he actually laughed.

Sophia hadn't aged a day since they had met 10 years ago. She had a radiance about her that seemed to wash away all the darkness and sadness in world. She smiled. "Hello Butterfly."

Albus couldn't help himself. He walked straight over to her and embraced her as if she was his mother.

"It's good to see you again Albus." She breathed, returning his embrace.

===== OUTSIDE PETHAM - KENT - UK - DECEMBER 16TH - 2020 A.D. =====

Despite the recent events that occurred in Cardiff, the ministry was determined not to cancel the Wizarding convention. Yet again, everyone had crowed around to the Potter house to finish off the last minute details. Of course, security had been tightened 100 times what it would normally be.

Hermione went into the kitchen to grab another bottle of wine as the others continued talking about arrival times and guest lists. She lazily flicked her wand and a bottle of Red flew out of the rack and uncorked it's self. It hovered next to her waiting for her to command it back into the lounge.

Something caught Hermione's eye. The Marauders Map was open on the kitchen table. Harry, as part of his paranoid fathering role, had been checking up on his children on random occasions. He had obviously forgotten to wipe the map before his guests had arrived.

She took a quick look at the map. She spotted Lily and Hugo in the Gryffindor common room. Rose and Scorpius's markers we're very close together in a broom closet on the 3rd floor. Hermione rolled her eyes and decided not to inform her husband. James, Fred & DJ were in the kitchens. But she couldn't spot Albus. She checked over the map twice but couldn't find him anywhere.

This left only two possibilities. Either he was inside the Room of Requirement or he had left the school.

The latter troubled Hermione.

===== THE HOGSHEAD - SCOTLAND - UK - DECEMBER 16TH - 2020 A.D. =====

"No! You met Spartacus?!" Albus asked excitedly.

"I never actually met him. I was in Rome when he led his rebellion." Sophia laughed.

"Alright! Who else?" Albus had been fascinated by the amount of people that she had met through her extremely long life and for the last half hour, all they had spoken about was her experiences of things others could only read about.

"Well, em, Cleopatra, Isaac Newton, Oscar Wilde, James the First, Starlin, never met Hitler, he was quite a difficult man to catch up with, Churchill, Walter Raleigh, Einstein, Robert Kennedy, The founding four, Merlin, Voldemort -"

"Voldemort?! You actually met him?" Albus breathed in complete captivation.

"Yes. He hadn't taken the name Voldemort back then. He was still Tom Marvolo Riddle when we met." She explained.

"What was he like?"

She sighed. "Brilliant, driven, charming, talented, ambitious and slowly slipping. Unfortunately Brilliant men often have the most persuasive demons. He finally gave into his when he fractured his soul." She stood up, walked over to a table and poured out two glasses of whiskey. She handed one to Albus. "I actually pitied him. He could have been a beacon of light for this world. But he chose a different path. Everyone talks about him like he was simply put on this earth to cause pain and suffering but we both know that's not how it works. It takes a lot of time and effort to become truly evil. And it often starts with a taste of power…"

Albus felt a wave of shame fall over him. He knew exactly what she was talking about. "I know I did -"

"It's not what you did Albus, it's why you did it. I won't blame you for wanting to do some good in this world, God knows we need it. But make sure that's all it's about. Getting involved and showing off, simply because you can, will only lead you in one direction. And it's not a place you want to go." She warned.

Albus looked at his feet like a naughty child.

"If you want to help people, then help them. But make sure it's them you're helping. Not yourself."

"Aurora doesn't want me to." Albus confessed quietly.

"Of course she doesn't. She's scared for you." Sophia said simply.

"Why? I mean when I said I wanted to…she freaked out!"

"She's afraid of loosing you Albus. She's lost too many people already. Aurora, although she hides it very well, is terrified of looses the people she cares about. The common term is 'fear of abandonment'. When she came to Hogwarts, she felt alone. Then you found her."

"Well, she's…she's got you guys. And her dad."

"Her fathers dead Albus."

Albus thought he had imagined what she just said. She was stunned. "What?"

"He was killed about eight months before she arrived at Hogwarts. By the same people that killed her mother. The same people that want you dead."

"Why didn't she tell me?"

"Because…you're father is still after him. The Auror's still post his wanted picture in the papers from time to time. And in some strange way, it makes her feel like he is still alive. She's not ready to give that up just yet."

Albus felt such terrible pain for her. He wanted to march back to Hogwarts and rap her in his arms. To kiss her and promise her that he would never leave her.

"John was hit with a curse. A very nasty curse. The same curse that would have killed Albus Dumbledore if Snape hadn't been able to carry out his orders." Albus remembered Tannis telling him that Aurora's father was sick when he came to see him. "After realizing that her father was going to die, she vowed to do what ever she could to stop the Cleric's. That included protecting the people they would target."

He had been so selfish. To dangle the idea of him dieing in front of her face, after she had already lost so much. He hated himself for that.

"The Cleric's are intelligent, organized, relentless and worst of all patient." She sighed. "Just because you haven't seen them yet, don't for one second think that you won't."

"How have you stayed alive so long?" Albus asked quickly.

"By being invisible." She sipped her whiskey. "My ability, is what I call and Isolated ability. It doesn't truly effect me physically nor does it effect the outside world. I simply don't age. Unlike you're power, I don't show up on their machine."

"I suppose someone with eternal life would be quite a prize for them."

"Eternal life?" She smiled. "Have you every read the bible, Albus?"

"No."

"There's a passage called Genesis that talks about the creation of the world. It says, after God created the garden of Eden, their were two trees. The Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of life. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the Tree of Knowledge, he banished them from the Garden and hid the Tree of Life. In other words, we have the capacity for endless knowledge but not endless life. I may not age but my life is not Eternal. Eternal life only comes after death."

It was strange. Albus couldn't take his eyes off her at that moment. She almost seemed to glow.

"I don't understand." He breathed.

"You should, you've seen the door." She said simply.

"The door of light." He whispered. "What is it?"

"Well, I can't be certain but…I believe it is what many people spend they're lives searching for. I suppose you could call it God, but I think it's so much more than just a word, a name. It's the Tree of Life, the soul of the world, the gateway to Eternity, the source of everything. When something living dies, it flows back to the source and becomes one with everything. That, is Eternal life."

The door flashed inside his mind almost like a whisper. A sudden smile that was gone so quickly he wasn't entirely sure he had seen it. But something deep inside him told him that he did.

"Death is the road to eternity." Those weren't his words. He didn't know where they were coming from but it wasn't him.

Again the door shone in his mind with the brightness of the sun.

"Together we shall live forever." His eyes were wide.

The door was speaking to him. He could feel it. But it wasn't forced. It wasn't a possession or some kind of control. It was like a union.

Albus blinked. It was gone. The door has vanished from his mind.

"It speaks to you doesn't it?" She breathed in awe.

"I think so. It whispers."

"What did it say?"

"Before, just after the warehouse…it said, 'be my strength and I will be yours. I will no betray you.' "

"You've been chosen." She was wide eyed. Wondrous amazement can flushed over her face.

"How is this possible?" He asked in a breath.

"During our cycles, we die. And our souls are brought so very close to the source. The place where it all started. And when we come back, a piece of that wondrous place comes back with us. I don't know if it's that that makes us unique, gives us our power, or it's simply the light that shines our way. But it's with us, always."

"Never alone." He didn't even realize that he had said it.

"No. Never."

"Are there others?"

"Yes. Why do you think I came to see you when you were 4 years old. It asked me to. It chose me to come and see you, just as it chose Lincoln to find you years ago." She smiled.

"What am I suppose to do now?"

"Don't worry," She placed her hand on his shoulder. "You'll know when the time comes."

He felt a strange Zen fall over him. He was calm and ready. What ever this door had chosen him to do…he was ready.

"You and Lincoln…has it…has it chosen anyone else?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe one other and if I tell you about him, you must take his identity to the grave Albus! If they found out that he existed, they would stop at nothing to capture him."

"You know I wouldn't tell them anything!" Albus actually felt quite insulted.

"I know. I just needed you to know how important this is." Albus nodded. "We have a Precognitive. His name is Sarno."

"A what?"

"He sees the future. And I don't mean he spouts of Prophecy's at random, he sees what is yet to come, clear as day…unfortunately he is very wary about telling people the future and he never gives us the full story. Apparently, he tried to change the future once and…it went very badly." There was a clear sadness in her voice.

Albus felt his gut tighten up. Suddenly he was looking at the lifeless Aurora again. Lying in the street, covered in her own blood. "Wait, you're saying…you can't change the future?"

Sophia could see something was wrong but she had to answer honestly. "No Albus, you can't. Lincoln was chosen, I was chosen, you have been chosen. There is a plan and although we get to see small glimpses of that plan, we can't alter it. We can only prepare ourselves for it."

"No! NO! That bullshit! If you can see the future! You can change it!" He stood up in a frenzy.

Sophia looked at him in awe. "What have you seen Albus?" She breathed.

The colour was draining from his face. "I…I saw Aurora…s-she…she was dead."

Sophia looked away, like she was mourning already. "I'm so sorry Albus."

"NO! I'm not gonna let it happen!"

She stood up and grabbed hold of his arms, forcing him to look her in the eye. "You can't fight destiny Albus! I wish we could but we can't!

"Then why am I allowed to see it?!" He hissed.

Sophia was stuck dumb. She released his arms and stepped back. One look at her face caused hope to flood back inside Albus. She was over 2000 years old and she still didn't have all the answers. "Maybe it's so we know that we are on the right path." She breathed.

"And maybe it's because we can change it! I am going to stop it! She is not going to die!" There was more conviction in his voice than ever before.

She looked up at him, allowing her self to hope. "In 2200 years I have never seen an Anomaly as powerful as you Albus. If you're heart is in the right place then you're strength is practically limitless. I don't know what you have been chosen for but if anyone can change the future, it's you." She embraced him. "You're not alone."

"Never alone." Albus grabbed his whiskey and downed it in one.

"What ever we can do to help you, we will."

"I…I can't stand doing this. Not being what I am! The only way I can save her is to be what I am!" Albus growled in frustration.

"You mean using your full capabilities."

"No! I mean…being me!"

"No one is asking you to be a different person, Albus. Just…try to blend in for a bit. It's necessary."

Albus sighed.

"But…if it makes you feel any better. Sarno has told me something else…"

Albus was all ears.

"He foresees a moment in the future, where we Anomalies don't hide any more. The world is going to find out about us. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, I'm not sure. But it will happen."

Albus couldn't stop the smile from appearing on his face.

"You should be getting back." She advised.

Albus suddenly realized just how much safer he felt around his own kind. "I'd rather stay."

"No, you need to show you're face at the convention. Anonymity is you're ally Albus, use it." She smiled.

He huffed. "My whole bloody family is gonna be there! They're gonna treat me like I'm a retard!"

Sophia laughed. "Aurora tells me you've been unusually docile. Even when you woke up in the hospital. It's not good to bottle up you're anger Albus. Let it out occasionally. Speak you're mind. It's the only way they are going to listen."

"Be my self?"

"Not what they want you to be…at least mostly." She finished for him.

Albus sighed and began heading for the door but before leaving he turned. "One more thing?"

"Ask."

"Aurora told me about the whole mating thing. Why didn't I try and jump your bones the moment I saw you?"

Sophia laughed. "Well for one thing I think I'm a little old for you. Second -" She lifted up her shirt and pull her trousers down just enough to show a huge scar that went from her stomach and continued down below her trouser line. "Shrapnel from a cannon blast. Pirates, 1804. Torn my Uterus to shreds, I can't have children…and some part of you knows that."

"I'm sorry." Albus said honestly.

She smiled. "Don't be, I was one of the pirates."

===== HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - DECEMBER 16TH - 2020 A.D. ====

Aurora was sitting in Tannis' office looking glum. There was a large mug of Irish coffee (Coffee & Whiskey) between her hands. Tannis was looking out the window, towards Hogsmead.

"I don't mean to offend you, but Albus is a lot tougher than you give him credit for." Tannis said.

"He's being reckless! The power…it's screwing him up!" She shot back.

"We knew it would."

"Not like this!" She growled. Aurora checked around the room to see if she had awoken any of the sleeping portraits. They seemed blissfully unaware of her presence, except she felt that Dumbledore was feigning sleep and eavesdropping on their conversation.

"I know you're scare for him Aurora but you can't protect him all the time." Tannis tried.

"So I should just give up?! Is that it?!"

"I think you should be honest with him. And you're self."

Aurora didn't have a response for that. She had been hiding herself from Albus. She wanted to tell him so many things but she just couldn't. She couldn't simply hand her heart to someone else in the hopes that they might not break it.

"Why are you pushing him away?" Tannis asked softly.

She stared at the floor for a few seconds. "He's…different now. He…he…he's throwing himself into danger! He's bottling up his anger! I-I can't even see inside his head anymore!"

"So you're on the same level as a normal woman?"

She shot icy daggers at him.

"I mean, you have always been able to simply jump inside his mind to get you're answers before. Now you have to try and figure them out for yourself. Just like the rest of us." Tannis said.

"I just want him to be…"

"Normal?"

"Safe!"

"He was never going to be safe. But he can be loved."

Aurora slammed the cup down on his desk and stormed out of the heads office. She didn't even look at him. Tannis sighed.

===== HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - DECEMBER 17TH - 2020 A.D. =====

The day of the Convention started exactly the way he expected. Noise from the grounds had floated up through the air and into his ears waking him from his peaceful sleep. The first in a series of annoyances that would occur today. He had only gotten to sleep 3 hours prior but again, it was all he needed. His advanced metabolism allowed his body to function a full power for a lot longer before needing to be recharged.

He got up and headed for the shower. He didn't care about walking past a group of giggling 3rd year girls as he entered the 7th years bathroom. As he stood in the shower, he contemplated all the things that would test his nerves today.

First and for most would be his family. He loved them but when they started fussing over him and treating him like some kind of wheelchair victim he knew his patients would hold for long. Then there was the fact that he would no doubt have to face Teddy Lupin again. He was confidant that he could go without hurting him in some way, unless he attacked him again, but was nevertheless not looking forward to his company.

Then there was the hundreds of people that would be running up to him to shake his hand just because his last name was Potter. He would be hearing nothing but the stories of his fathers incredible defeat of the darkest wizard that ever lived.

He was chosen to. But he was chosen by Voldemort not the door. Voldemort heard the prophecy and chose Harry to be the one it concerned. He could have chosen Neville but he didn't. The door, the soul of the world has chosen me. Why? There's so many destiny's in the world.

How his father had managed to survive Voldemort was becoming more and more of a mystery to Albus. He was starting to think that the fight could have gone either way. The Prophecy was just an announcement that it would happen.

He could have flattened his father in a heartbeat if he wanted to and yet Voldemort, who some say was the most powerful wizard to every live, next to Merlin of course, failed to kill him more times than he could count.

Just goes to show that luck and chance can change everything. That, and a shit load of help of course.

He returned to his room and didn't come out for the entire morning. He didn't want to have to go to breakfast and receive even more disapproving looks from Aurora, that would no doubt be mixed in with lovey-dovy looks for Cody.

As the 12 noon start time drew ever closer Albus found him self more and more inclined to have a drink. He finally gave in at about 11:00 o'clock. He had worked his way through several beers by the time it there was a knock on his door from Scorpius and Rose.

"Oh Albus you haven't!" Rose sighed immediately upon seeing her slightly tipsy cousin.

"Well what was I suppose to do?! I suppose they're all here then," He huffed.

"Yeah. They're outside."

"Oh joy."

"Come on mate. Go do the 'I'm honored to be his son' thing for a bit, then we'll go to Hogsmead." Scorpius said.

Albus downed the remainder of his beer and grabbed another one before heading down stairs.

The day was unusually sunny for December. It wasn't warm but that had been taken care of by the many Atmospheric Charms that had been set up around the grounds. A huge stage had been set up just near the lake along with hundreds of chairs. Dumbledore's White Tomb was glowing due to the sun.

There was a very long drink and refreshments table next to the stage where several dozen house elves were running around serving people. Albus spotted Nook who gave him a very nervous smile.

Wizards and Witches were already arriving from all over the world. Just from standing in the entrance Albus spotted a very large group of Beauxbatons students and teachers. Not far away from them were several Ministry officials including Percy Weasley and his wife. Albus shuddered. Talking to Percy Weasley was hard enough without having the power and the urge to launch him into orbit.

Very large groups of wizards and witches were making their way through the gates of Hogwarts after Flooing or traveling by Portkey directly into Hogsmead. Down by the gates were several tables where wizards and witches would display they're new achievements in magic. Inventors, potion makers, alchemists and even authors and broom makers were there, showing off they're works. A very large group of Quidditch addicted students has already gathered around the broom table to see the prototype designs for upcoming brooms.

Albus laughed. Brooms…ahh, that's cute.

It wasn't difficult to find his brother. James, Fred, DJ and Hugo were standing next to a large group of witches that had arrived from Salem's and had already started pulling out they're very best chat up lines. Hugo was simply staring at the girls with the largest busts with a glaze over look on his face.

Unfortunately, like most girls, they were completely captivated by the fact that they were speaking to Harry Potters son. Rose rolled her eyes at the sight.

"See ya brothers wasting no time." Scorpius remarked.

"Yeah, he'll have probably bedded three of them before the day is done." Rose huffed.

"I doubt that. Underage student's can't have sex in Hogwarts." Albus said absently.

"What?!" Rose squeaked.

Rose looked completely crushed where a Scorpius was trying desperately hard not to show his relief.

Albus spotted a dance of long, fiery red hair that belonged to his mother. Harry was standing next to her with his arm around her and smiling as politely as possible. It was obvious that even after 22 years of this, he still hated the attention. Kingsley Shacklebolt was stood next to Harry, then Hermione, then Ron. Hermione looked ravishing. It wasn't often that she spent careful time and effort on her appearance but today was one of them. She looked 10 years younger and her appearance looked a lot like the photo's of her at the Yule Ball when Harry was entered into the Tri-wizard tournament. She was quite a bit taller now of course, a little more filled out in places and wasn't dancing with a Bulgarian Quidditch ace.

Strangely enough the Draco Malfoy and his wife was also standing with them. He seemed to be doing his best to stomach the presence of the Potter/Weasley family but was having just hard a time as Albus was. Astoria seemed to be enjoying the event thoroughly.

Most of the people that were talking to them looked like foreign diplomats and head teachers from other schools. Most student's seemed a little too nervous to approach just yet.

_Okay! Breathe. You only have to tolerate them for a few hours then…then you have to see them over Christmas! Damnit!_

"No, you know what, I changed my mind. I'm going back to my room." Albus said quickly.

"No you're not! You have to make an appearance here or people will start think that there is something wrong with you! You'll probably end up being quarantined or something!" Rose stressed.

"Ha! Let em try."

"Incoming!" Scorpius alerted them to Teddy and Victorie, who were walking towards them.

"Ah shit."

"Stay calm! Do not attack them!" Rose hissed quickly.

Teddy couldn't help but shot a half wary, half cold look at both Albus and Scorpius. Victorie simply beamed at them.

"This is brilliant isn't it! It's a bigger turn out than the last one!" She chirped.

"Yes, I am ecstatic." Albus said sounding like a robot.

"Albus what are you drinking?" She asked.

"Fruit juice. Larger is a type of fruit juice." Albus said quickly, relying on the fact that they had grown up in wizarding environments.

"Oh, I've never heard of it before."

"Yeah well, it's an acquired taste and…" Albus topped and looked over Victories shoulder. He could see Carol, his Therapist chatting with Hermione. They both looked up and smiled at him.

Albus felt the tiny strands that were keeping his temper tied down begin snap. Although the racket of the Convention was clouding his hearing, Albus knew exactly what she was doing. She was recommending that he return to counselling sessions! This actually caused Albus's eye to twitch. He immediately began chugging down beer as quickly as possible.

He finished the beer and let out an enormous burp. "Nook!"

POP! The house elf appeared. "Yes master?" the little creature said in a pleading tone.

"Grab me another on of these from my room. ASAP!" Albus said showing him the bottle.

The house elf disappeared and reappeared in less than 5 seconds. He handed the fresh beer to Albus and disappeared again with another POP!

Albus saw Hermione, Draco and Astoria walking over to him. Teddy glared at Draco as he approached. It seemed to be taking all of his will power not to attack the former Death Eater.

"Hey son." Draco said, purposely walking between Scorpius and Rose.

"Hi dad. Didn't expect you to be here."

"You and me both." Draco said as he shot a loathing look at Hermione. It was clear that Draco, being a pureblood had been asked to show his support for the upcoming, muggle-born minister. He was treating it as a form of torture.

Rose hugged her mother.

"Where's Hugo?" Hermione asked.

"Erm…with James and Fred and DJ." Rose said apprehensively.

Hermione rolled her eyes in the exact same fashion as her daughter.

"How you feeling Al?"

"Nauseous, but that has nothing to do with my physical being." Albus said grumpily.

"I know the feeling." Draco mumbled.

"Albus!" Hermione shrieked. "Are you drinking?!"

Albus looked at the large bottle of beer in his hand for a second then turned back to his Aunt. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"I don't believe you! You're suppose to be setting an example today!"

"Then why would you want to make a scene by bringing my therapist here!" Albus growled. The very last strands of his patients were being stretched to breaking point.

"It's for your own good Albus! We only want to help you!" There was simply too much condescendence in her tone for Albus to handle.

"Hmm…the sound of a mans sanity finally breaking is a lot quieter then I expected. Maybe that's why you guys didn't hear it…" Albus slurred.

Hermione was outraged. "This is exactly why we want to help you! Lately you've been acting so -" She was cut off.

_SNAP! That's it! Time to get a few things off my chest!_

Albus took a breath. "The matter, Betty Bookworm, is that you, especially you, seems determined to rupture every single remaining blood vessel in my brain, with you non-stop, incessant lecturing. That, and that strange little high pitch sound that comes out of your mouth when ever speak and that causes dogs to believe that God is trying to contact them!"

For a second she said nothing. Part of her was expecting to blink and find that what had just happened was a daydream but the wake up never came. "Excuse me?!" She finally breathed.

"Your excused, no, in fact excuse me. I've just noticed that the containment field around you're cranium that's keeping you're hair straight is failing rapidly due to all the damp in the air. So, I'm gonna skedaddle before we witness an extremely hairy explosion. Toodles." Albus responded with absolutely no emotion is his voice whatsoever which only made him more insulting.

Hermione was left completely speechless. She couldn't speak but very slowly her hand moved up to her hair to see if it was haemorrhaging anywhere.

"Albus! What the hell?! You don't talk to you're Aunt like that!" Teddy's voice broke Hermione out of her daze even though it was directed at Albus

Albus' face squinted, as if he was eating a sour sweet. "Yep, there it is, there's that voice again. Now I'm going to have to scream my self to sleep tonight!"

Both Scorpius and Draco were using all of they're willpower not to burst into laughter. Astoria, Rose and Victorie were stunned into shock.

"What -" Teddy's face was quickly becoming as shocked at Hermione's. His hair was changing colour rapidly, which he was probably unaware of.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I use the big difficult words? Lemme' break it down for you there rainbow curls. The only thing that is keeping me sane after having to endure the presence of my entire family for more than about 70 seconds, is the large amount of alcohol I have ingested and the heavy doses of nicotine that I'm pumping into my body at quick intervals. Now before that out of control paint sprayer on top of your head goes complete berserk, I'm gonna suggest that we pretend we haven't even seen each other today because I'm dangerously close to grinding you down into tiny little Lupin cubes and feeding you to a big monkey!"

That did it. Draco burst into laughter. "Oh! I am so glad I decided to come to this thing now!"

"Draco!" Astoria hissed. She then spotted Scorpius was very close to following suit with his father. "And you Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy!"

"Hyperion? You're middle names Hyperion."

"Oh shut up Severus!" Scorpius snapped back.

"Yeah, I was named after a war hero, you were named after a Greek titan that married his sister!" Albus grinned.

"He-What!" Scorpius went pale turned to his mother for an explanation.

"Actually, he was named after the moon that Orbits Saturn!" She glared at Albus.

"Oh my bad." Albus chugged his beer again.

Hermione's voice was still absent and after a few minutes just as they were about to be joined by Harry, Ron and Ginny.

"Whoa! Don't come any closer!" Draco laughed. "You're sons having a nervous breakdown and it's brilliant!"

"I will if they try to talk to me!" Albus growled.

Harry, Ginny and Ron looked at Albus in confusion. "Albus what's the matter with -" Ginny's voice was cut off as Albus, without a care in the world, pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one right in front of them.

"ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER!" She shrieked.

"The one and only." He smiled sweetly.

Ginny grabbed the cigarette out of his mouth, threw it on the ground and stamped it out.

"Hey! Those are expensive!"

"What the hell is going on with you Albus!" Harry demanded.

Albus felt his blood begin to boil up inside of him. "Me?! Oh you know, the usual! Rapid ageing! Teenage angst! Stress! Therapy! But the big one is YOU LOT! Every single one of you is trying make me be something I'm not! And it is eating me alive!" He roared with such intensity that it again caused silence to fall over the group. In fact several guests that were close by had turned to see what was happening.

"Now, because I can already see that those 'Oh Merlin, he going to commit suicide' looks are starting to appear on you're faces, I'm going to tell you what's going to happen next. I'm going to go to Hogsmead, where I will find a vat of the most powerful alcohol in human history which I will consume over the next few hours and none of you will so much as even try to talk to me! And if that is done, maybe, just maybe I will be relaxed and civil enough to actually return home this Christmas instead of going with my original plan to elope to Guadalcanal!"

With that, he stormed straight past them and off towards Hogsmead, leaving his entire family shocked beyond belief. Draco, however was once again fighting the urge roll around on the floor, grabbing his sides.

_God that felt good!_

Albus trudged his way through the crowed of people towards the Hogwarts gates. Along the way several people pointed and whispered but luckily none of them decided to actually come and talk to him. As he walked, Albus saw the Bobs attempted to impress several Beauxbaton's girls that, judging by the way they smelt, had some Veela inside them.

He continued out of the grounds and into Hogsmead.

Hogsmead village was just as jam packed as the grounds of the school. It looked more like Diagon Ally than the sleepy village that was perched on the shoulder of the school. All the shops were alive with business and much like the school, people had set up tables and stools to display what ever groundbreaking achievement they had made in magic.

Albus continued past them uninterested. Are large flashing sign that seemed to be growing weaker by the minute caught his eye. It was Merlin's Mug. The new muggle style pub that had opened only a few days prior. Although the pub boasted that it was the only one is wizarding England that ad working electricity, it certainly seemed to be having a hard time with it.

It wasn't nearly as subtle as anything in the muggle world. There were pipes and huge metal conductors sticking out of the building in several places, making it look like a giant radio that had been taken apart and re-wired. Despite the overall wackiness of the design, the place was packed with customers. Albus decided to give it a try.

As he approached he walked straight into his grandfather. Arthur Weasley was walking out of the pub with an enormous smile on his face. He looked like a kid at Christmas.

"Albus! Goodness, I almost didn't recognize you," He stated bluntly.

"There's a shocker. So, how's Merlin's mug?"

"Wonderful place! Truly marvelous! I'm just off to find Molly. She has to see this!"

"I'm sure she'll love it," Albus lied. "Nice to see ya."

He pushed straight past him and opened the door.

He noticed a huge sign that read: Please refrain from using unnecessary spells on the premises.

They were probably worried that too much magic would short the entire building out.

Inside there was a large rectangular bar in the centre of the room. The rest of the space was filled up with tables and chairs. There were also several young witches, that were wearing very little clothing, running around taking orders from people. The pub also boasted to being the only one in the village that sold both muggle and wizarding drinks. The entire left wall was taken up with the pubs pride and joy. An enormous television. Much like the sign outside, it had dozens of pipes and wires flowing out from the back of it and leading off into other parts of the pub.

The TV was only showing the news at that moment but it was enough to fascinate the many wizard raised customers that rarely, if ever, got to watch one. People seemed utterly captivated by the sports update that was being played. Many of them were laughing at the fact that none of the muggle games used brooms or items that exploded whilst others were just watching quickly.

Albus spotted an empty table and quickly sat down. It was only a few seconds later that one of the young witches came over to take his order. They didn't seem to recognize him because she didn't object in any way when he asked for a beer.

After his drink had arrived, he sat in silence for a bit. As much as he had tried, two things were still nagging at him. What did the door want him to do and how was he going to save Aurora? The questions seemed so epic, he couldn't even begin to fathom the answers.

He looked at the TV screen. There was a very attractive woman reading the latest headlines as sports scores and other little titbit's scrolled across the bottom of the screen. In the corner was a flashy icon saying Sky News. "Fighting broke out in the Gaza strip today as Israeli forces attempted to -"

"Is it safe?" Albus looked up to see Scorpius standing next to him. "Or am I gonna get my head bitten off?"

Al smiled. "Nah, I'm done expressing my feelings."

"Never seen your family so quiet before," Scorpius said taking a seat next to him.

"Well it was either that or I might start trying to kill them again."

"You made my dads day. He's still laughing about it."

"Glad I could help."

Scorpius rubbed the back of his neck. He felt slightly awkward. "I'm sorry…I didn't realize that you having such a hard time with this….you know, acting normal."

"I had a hard enough time acting normal when I thought that I was normal. Now…feels like I'm lying to everybody," He sighed.

"You know it's for your safety?" Scorpius tried.

"As long as I remember to keep a shield up, I'm practically invisible! Spells just bounce right off!"

"Can't say the same for Lynx's foot."

Scorpius received a glare for that one.

"What's the point in having super powers if all you get to do is sit around and pretend that you don't have them!" Albus growled.

"Well, I'm sure they'll come in handy if -" Scorpius broke off. Albus wasn't listening to him. His eyes were glued to the TV screen. He looked to see a massive headline flashing across the screen.

_ARMED GUNMEN SEIZE RESERVE BANK IN BALTIMORE_

"…_when armed gunmen entered the reserve bank. We are getting unconfirmed reports, that as many as 26 people may have been inside when the gunmen took control. Police have surrounded the bank but are apparently under heavy fire. We now go live to our Sky News correspondent in Baltimore…"_

The picture on screen switched to a live video, being taken from a Helicopter, a few hundred feet above the bank. The building was surrounded by black and white police cars, with their light flashing. Several dozen police and SWAT officers were clear, taking cover behind their vehicles. The three cars closest to the bank were on fire and there was heavy flashes coming from the windows of the bank.

A huge crowed of people and press had gathered but were being kept a safe distance from the danger.

"…_Reports of at least 12 gunmen are coming through. It's not yet known whether or not they have harmed any of the hostages yet, but as you can see from these pictures, they are heavily armed and in a fire fight with police and - Whoa!"_

A fourth police car suddenly exploded into flames as gun fire must have hit the flue tank.

The entire pub was now silent and watching the breaking news. Somehow, Scorpius managed to pull his eyes away from the screen and turned to look at Albus.

There was a look burning fury on his face and he was gripping the bottle in his hand so hard that his knuckles had turned white.

Albus suddenly released the bottle and looked at Scorpius. The look in his eyes told him everything he needed to know.

Albus stood up.

Scorpius immediately did the same and followed his friend out of the pub.

"No! Albus stop! Listen to me!"

But he didn't. Albus was walking with a purpose. His face was stone.

"You can't do this! Every TV in the world will be watching that soon!"

"Then I think it's time for my close up!" Albus growled.

Scorpius actually had to grab Albus' arm to stop him. There was more fear in his voice than ever before. "Al, you do this…there's no going back. People won't forget this,"

"That's the idea," Albus shook his friends hand off and continued walking towards the castle. He needed his 'Disguise'. "Go back and get ya self a good seat Mal. You're not gonna want to miss this!"


	15. Jet Lag

======= JET LAG =======

===== BALTIMORE - MARYLAND - USA - DECEMBER 17TH - 2020 A.D. =====

The scene mimicked exactly what had been shown on the TV. It was a war zone. The Gunmen inside the bank were armed to the teeth and didn't seem to be running out of ammo. The sky was black with smoke from the destroyed cars that was spilling into the air. Bullets were ripping everything nearby to shreds.

The normally peaceful and clean part of the city looked like it was caught in the middle of a civil war. The trees that lined the pavement on either side of the road had been cut to shreds by molten lead and now police cars, SWAT vans and officers taking cover had packed the area.

Snipers lined the roof tops of adjuring buildings but seemed unable to get a clean shot.

Police Captain Daniels was taking cover behind a large steel SWAT van, along with several other officers. The gun fire that was echoing around the area was causing everyone to have to yell to be heard. He was screaming into his radio.

"I don't give a shit! You get some men onto that roof right now!"

Suddenly a scream cut the air. Daniels looked around to see one of his officers on the floor, clutching a bullet wound in his leg.

"Damnit! Get him outta there!" He yelled as two more officers ran over. They dodged barrages of bullet fire and grabbed the wounded cop, pulling him to safety.

There was an ear splitting drown of spinning rotor blades as a SWAT helicopter flew over head. It moved up and came into hover just over the roof of the Bank. 4 black ropes where dropped from the sides of the chopper and SWAT team members began to slide down them.

Every police officer and civilian suddenly hit the deck as the Helicopter exploded into a ball of fire. One of the gun men had just hit it with an RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) from one of the upstairs windows.

The flaming mass of molten metal came down like a meteor in the middle of the street.

Before anyone could even stand up there was another huge bang as a huge steel armoured truck burst through the metal loading dock.

Some of the gunmen were making a break for it.

More gunfire came from the windows, causing the street to be torn apart again. A few officers managed to get to their squad cars and gave chase to the van but most of the cars were so badly damaged from gun fire, they wouldn't run properly.

Captain Daniels grabbed one of his Lieutenants and yelled. "I want every available badge down here right now! I don't give a shit what precinct their from, just get em here now!"

The Lieutenant nodded and started yelling orders down his radio.

==== DOVER AIR FORCE BASE - DELAWARE - USA - DECEMBER 17TH - 2020 A.D. ====

At the same time in the Air Traffic Control room of Dover Air Force base, Sergeant Alonso was one of the many trainees that were watching as a squad of F-22 Raptors were flying manoeuvres just off the east coast. The room was lined with dozens of radar screens that were tracking the 'Raider' squadron as they conducted war games.

This was simply and efficient way of training both Radar operators and getting pilots to brush up on their flying skills.

Alonso was sitting at his station, watching the tiny green blips, with call signs and transponder codes attached to them. To an untrained persons eye, it simply looked like a swarm of insects flying around in what ever direction pleased them but Alonso could spot their thinking. Each dot on the screen represented an aircraft trying to laser target another. They change position every time the image was refreshed.

Suddenly there was an odd beeping noise. A small information tag attached it self to a new contact that had entered radar range. Aircraft class: Unknown

The moment Alonso noticed the speed that it was moving he signalled his watch commander.

"Major. I have an unidentified bogie that just entered grid 6,12."

The Major walked over to check Alonso's screen. "Run a cross check against the database. Get me aircraft type." The Major order.

The computer was cycling through dozens of different aircraft types, trying to match the contact on screen but the tag didn't change. It still read: Aircraft Class: Unknown

"Sir, I think it's too small. It could be an Unmanned Ariel Vehicle,"

"UAV's don't fly that fast!" The Major turned to another Radar Operator. "Abort the war games, order the Raider squadron to intercept and identify."

"Yes, Sir."

Anyone that wasn't glued to a radar screen had now crowded around Alonso's station.

"Plot it's trajectory Sergeant."

Alonso typed a few keys on his board. A red line appeared on screen, linking the unknown bogie to the nearest land destination. "If it stays on present course, it'll reach Maryland in 16 minutes."

The Majors face was white with horror. Alonso knew what he was thinking, because he was thinking the exact same thing. A Missile.

The computer suddenly started beeping rapidly.

"Sir! Bogie just accelerated to Mark 4.1. The Raiders won't be able to intercept in time!"

The Major took a breath then turned to his second in command. "Get me the Pentagon!"

===== BALTIMORE - MARYLAND - USA - DECEMBER 17TH - 2020 A.D. =====

Captain Daniels was screaming down his radio. "I don't care what you have to do! Just stop that damn truck!"

"The trucks armor plated! We need back up!" A voice yell back.

"Get ahead of it! Get some stingers on the road to take out the tires!"

Even the sounds of heavy gun fire and screaming didn't block out the massive roar that came from the sky.

There nothing but a blur followed by a rushing of wind and a heavy rumble. A Ground tremor erupted as the concrete buckled and cracked under the power of the landing. The gun fire had stopped.

Every single person in the area is now staring with awe at the man, standing in the road between the police and the bank, a small impact crater under his feet. The man that seemingly dropped out of the sky was staring directly at the bank.

Albus grinned.

Bullets cut the air as Albus began walking towards the bank. Every round that was heading for his body suddenly changed direction at the last second and hit the street . Not one single piece of lead was connecting with his body.

Albus continued to walk towards the bank, not rushing, almost casually. As he approached the main doors, he gave a quick flick with his right hand. The doors burst open and he continued inside.

The police were frozen, unsure if they had actually just seen a hooded man land in the middle of the street and walk through a hail of bullets without taking a single hit.

The gun fire from the windows suddenly stopped but was replaced by more from inside the building.

_SMASH!_

Suddenly a man wearing a balaclava and body armor was blasted through the window as if fired from a cannon. He slammed straight into a police car, denting the metal before hitting the floor.

The another man shot through the window next to the main doors. The man, also wearing body armor and a mask, shot straight over the police car and slammed into a tree behind it.

Another _SMASH!_ As a man blasted out of the roof of the bank, flailing his arms and legs in the air before crashing back to earth.

Albus was throwing them around like rag dolls.

Another one of the bank robbers suddenly came running out of the doubles doors. He wasn't armed and was acting like he was being chased by a werewolf.

Suddenly a fire extinguisher shot out of the doors like a red spear and smashed him in the back sending him flying over and landing right next to the other unconscious gunmen.

The gunfire from inside the bank had stopped. The entire area was silent.

A massive roar of wind signaled Albus's departure from the bank. He jetted straight out of the double doors and cut hard right, heading in the direction of the truck.

After a few seconds, hostages, still terrified, began emerging from the bank entrance with their hands raised in the air. Police officers were broken out of their frozen confusion and rushed over, taking them to safety. More officers entered the bank with their weapons ready.

Miles away, the armored truck was still gunning it's way down the highway, being perused by several police cars. It smashed cars out of the way wherever it could causing the police cars to swerve and break in an effort to avoid hitting them.

Guns were being fired from both the driver and passenger windows. The truck was heading towards the docks.

Albus shot straight over the truck, flipped and landed in the street directly ahead of them.

The truck wasn't slowing down. They were going to ram straight into him. The driver put his foot down and the truck began to accelerate, closing the distance between the two.

Albus waited until the truck was only a foot away from him before throwing a ground shaking punch straight into the armored bonnet.

The massive impacted cause the entire truck to jump up, doing a complete front flip in mid air and crashing back down onto the street twenty feet behind Albus. It skidded to a holt right in the middle of the road.

The police cars that were giving chase slammed on the breaks and screeched to a stop, still a good distance from Albus.

He casually walked over to the driver side door of the smashed up armor car. The driver was bloodied and dazed. The seatbelt had stopped him from going through the windscreen. He managed to turn his head slightly and look up and the hooded figure with a mix look of disbelief and pure fear.

Albus grinned. "Sir, do you know why I pulled you over?"

The driver couldn't answer. He wasn't even sure that this was real.

A news helicopter soared above them. They had obviously followed Albus after he had left the bank.

Albus looked back at the many cars that had been slammed out of the way by the speeding truck. "I think your gonna loose your license for this,"

As more police cars began to arrive at the scene, Albus decided it was time to leave.

"Oh, and you've got a taillight out." He smiled before pivoting on his legs and pushing off into the sky.

He shot through the air, leaving the sonic boom to announce his departure.

==== DOVER AIR FORCE BASE - DELAWARE - USA - DECEMBER 17TH - 2020 A.D. ====

"Bogey spotted!" Alonso shouted.

The Major immediately walked over to his station. "Where's it heading?"

"Going out the same way it came in, sir."

"Where are the Raiders?"

"Estimated time to intercept range, 40 seconds."

Four tiny green blips were making their way towards the single dot in the center that still read: Aircraft class: Unknown.

They had no idea what had just occurred in Baltimore and probably wouldn't until the next time they saw a TV screen.

A voice filled the room, coming from the speakers. "ATC, this is Raider One. I'm in range of the boogie now."

The Major put on a headset and spoke into the mic. "Raider One do you have visual?"

"Negative ATC, got him on radar." The pilots voice replied.

"Radio contact?"

"Negative Sir."

The Major paused for a second. He was doing things by the book. Protecting the country! He took a breath. "Raider Squadron, go weapons hot, you are clear to engage."

"Copy that ATC."

Albus was soaring through the air as a casual 2000 mph. At 25,000 feet, he was still buzzing from the excitement and adrenaline that had shot through him the moment he landed in front of the bank. He realized that getting back into Hogwarts might actually be a tad bit more difficult than stopping several gunmen and an armored car. He couldn't help but laugh to himself.

He was toying with the idea of coming in low over the forbidden forest then walking back to the castle. The Centaurs seemed to be on the level. If they were going to out his little secret they would have done it already.

Something shot into his mind faster than the clouds that were shooting past him. Aurora.

That was going to be an uncomfortable talk.

She's gonna put my balls in a blender for this one… Oh well, no running and hiding this time! She is the first person your going to see as soon as we back!

Something else grabbed his attention. A strange noise in the distance.

Albus slammed on the breaks and stopped in mid air. He looked around, trying to discover the source of the sound. He looked behind him.

Four F-22 Raptors were coming up fast.

"Oh shit!"

Without waiting for an invitation, Albus blasted off into the sky, accelerating as quickly as possible. Light began to pour from his back and legs as the churn of gravity increased around him.

You dumb shit! You flew over restricted air space!

The Raptors fired their after burners and matched his acceleration. They began to gain on him.

"ATC, Raider One, I have visual." The Raptor pilot said.

"Raider One, what is it?"

"All I can see is light, ATC."

Albus suddenly shot into an evasive maneuverer, barrel rolling away. The Raiders cut left, their radars tracking the target, waiting for a lock on.

The pilots board flashed red with the words: Heat Lock

"Raider One, Heat lock, Fox Three!" He pushed the little red button on the stick.

An AIM-120 AMRAAM Missile suddenly detached from it's port and blasted through the air, tracking the target in front of it.

Albus spotted the missile and suddenly blood thundered to his brain. They were trying to kill him! Rage began pumping through his veins. The missile was gaining on him.

He dive-bombed straight down towards the ocean below. The missile, still tracking him, matched his move and now both of them were rocketing towards the waves.

He slammed into the water seconds before the missile struck the surface. Water was blasted into the air as the missile detonated under the ocean.

The Raptors did a fly-by, scanning the area with their radars, looking for sign of survivors. Their screens were blank.

"ATC, I have weapon detonation in the water. No sigh of the bogey." The pilot reported.

"Raider One, can you confirm that the target is down?" The Majors voice asked over the radio.

"No radar contact, I think it's down ATC…,"

_BEEP BEEP BEEP!_

The Radar was going mad. The Target had returned and was flying straight at the fighter jet.

"NEGATIVE! BOGEY IS LIVE!"

The pilots board flashed red again. _COLLISION ALARM!_

A heartbeat before Albus struck the plane, he flipped him self over in mid air and using gravity to pass into his feet, he attached himself to the Raptor. Albus skidded to a halt and was now standing on the back of the fighter jet!

He growled and began stomping towards the cockpit.

The Pilot looked up, just in time to scream. "WHAT THE FU -"

_SMASH!_ Albus punched through the cockpit screen and grabbed the pilot by the neck. He tore the entire ejector seat out of the plane and glared into the pilots visor.

"I DON'T LIKE BEING SHOT AT!" He roared.

Albus grabbed the ejection handle on the seat and yanked it up. A parachute blasted out of the back of the chair and Albus let go of the pilot. He shot straight past into the tail vacuum before final detaching from the chair and beginning to fall slowly through the air.

Albus looked back to make sure the pilots parachute opened fully before flying off the plane and letting in dive-bomb towards the ocean.

"Raider 1 is down! Raider 1 is down!" The pilot of another Raptor started yelling over his radio.

Albus looked around quickly. During the attack he had lost his baring and now wasn't sure which way Europe was, let alone Britain was! He took a wild guess and blasted off through the sky.

He had made his point with the fighter jets.

Only they didn't seem to think so.

The familiar sound of a burning jet engine rang through his ears again. He glanced behind to see another missile tracking him. One of the other planes had taken a shot at him!

Once again the blood began to boil in his veins.

_Alright! You wanna play?! COME ON! LET'S PLAY!_

Albus slammed the breaks on and span around in midair. With incredible reflexes he actually grabbed hold of the missile by is tail but the moment he touched it, it's engine choked and gave out. The missile went dead.

Albus shook it to see if it rattled… Stupid muggle piece of crap!

He wasn't sure if it would still explode but it was certainly worth a try. He scanned the horizon and found his target. The three remaining Raptors broke the clouds and were coming up fast.

He picked out the one in the center and began to spin rapidly on the spot. As soon as they were close enough he would let go and send the rocket straight back at them!

Albus stopped.

_What the hell am I doing?!_ He had just shot down a plane! He was about to shoot down another! These people were just following orders. Attempting to protect their country against a possible unknown threat.

They weren't the enemy!

He took off. Using everything he had to get away from them as fast as he could. He didn't care where he ended up! He knew they couldn't chase him forever. They would turn back or run out of fuel! He had to get away! He focused everything he had and again light began to pour from around his body. He didn't even realize that he was still holding on to the missile!

The jets were persistent. Now the pilots were powered by the need to stop what just shot down and almost killed their friend.

Albus looked back, they were still on him. The center jet had taken the lead and wasn't giving up!

An electric shock went down his spine and forced him to turn his head.

For a heartbeat he was staring at the nose of an enormous, 380+ tonne, Boeing 747! It was traveling towards him at 600 MPH!

He banked right as hard as he could just missing the wing. The closest perusing Raptor didn't have the agility that Albus did. He tried to bank right but wasn't quick enough. The fighter jet cut straight through the 747's right wing.

The engine blew instantly as the busted Raptor fell out of the sky, shedding parts.

The pilot ejected.

The 747 started loosing altitude. Shrapnel from the wing had penetrated the hull.

In the cockpit the pilot was already yelling down the radio. "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday! This is Oceanic 394, reporting an emergency! We have a mid air collision!"

In the cabin, passengers screamed and panicked as air masks dropped form the ceiling.

"There's been some kind of short! Flaps aren't responding!" The Co-Pilot screamed as he flicked several switches.

The plane continued to drop out of the sky like a rock.

"Keep her level! Don't let her go into a spin!" The pilot yelled.

"I'm trying!" The Co-pilot was pulling back on the wheel as hard as he could!

The Majors voice came over their radio. "Oceanic 394, This is Dover Air Force ATC. What is your situation, over?"

"Dover ATC, Engine Two is out! We have hull depressurization! Loosing Altitude! Flaps unresponsive! Request emergency runway clearance at Atlantic International!"

"Copy that 394!"

==== DOVER AIR FORCE BASE - DELAWARE - USA - DECEMBER 17TH - 2020 A.D. ====

"Get emergency services on the horn. Tell all inbound aircraft to climb and hold at 30,000! Get Atlantic International to clear their runways!" The Major yelled as every single person in the Air Traffic Control began blasting orders over phones and radios. "Get the Raiders to guide them in!"

Alonso yelled into his mic. "Raider squadron, break off pursuit of unknown bogey and assist Oceanic 394!"

"He's already Gone ATC! Took off faster than we can fly!" One of the Raider pilots reported.

Alonso checked his screen. The boogie had disappeared from their effective range.

"Major, Bogey has disappeared from radar!"

"Forgot the damn bogey! Help the plane!"

"Yes sir!"

An unknown infiltrator meant next to nothing when compared to the 400+ innocent civilians that were about to drop out of the sky. All 45 People inside the ATC were running all over, contacting different emergency service departments. Government offices, Airports, other aircraft were all being contacted and told the situation.

"We need police and fire departments on the scene!" The Major commanded to his radio. He turned to another officer that was attempting to give orders to two separate phones at the same time. "How long before Atlantic can clear their runways?"

"They can have runway 1 and 4 clear in 7 minutes. They're gonna need at least 20 minutes to clear all of them!" The officer reported.

"Plot 394's trajectory. Clear the runway that she's already lined up with!" The Major ordered.

"If she can hold her course, she's gonna come in over runway 3!"

"That's not gonna happen sir!" Alonso shouted. "I can see it on screen! She drifting!"

The Major looked at Alonso's screen. A green line appeared, showing the current course of the damaged 747. It was going to shoot straight past the airport runway and hit the dirt.

"Oceanic 394! You need to stay on heading 101! Do you copy, over?"

The pilots terrified voice rung out over the speakers "Rudder is unresponsive! Flaps won't answer! We have no control!"

"Sir…,"

"No now!" He growled. "394, You are going to skip the runway unless you can stay on heading 101!"

"Sir…," Alonso tried again but was ignored.

"We're gonna try manual override of the flaps, but turbulence is too strong! I can barely keep her level!"

The Major turned to the officer. "Altitude?"

"11,000. Falling like a rock!"

"SIR!"

"WHAT?!"

"It's back!"

The Major checked Alonso's screen. The tag had returned and attached it self to something moving faster than any aircraft is capable of. _Aircraft Type: Unknown._

The Raptors were forced to break away from the 747 as Albus shot past them. The turbulence of his wake almost caused the pilots to loose control of their jets.

He slowed as he approached the 747.

The massive aircraft, the Jets and Albus were now at 9000 feet and falling fast. His binocular eyesight could see the distant airport runways ahead, but the plane was coming in at the wrong angle and was moving way too fast!

Albus moved up along side the cock pit. Like a Quidditch tackle, he barged into the plane, shoulder first. The immense weigh of the hit cause the cabin to buckle but not rupture.

The entire plane began to move to the right.

In the Cockpit the course heading on the computer read: 101/02 He had lined them up!

The plane was now at 4000 and still falling as the two remaining Raptors came along side to guide the 747 in.

"What the hell…" One of the Raptor pilots breathed.

"Repeat your last Raider 4!" The Major commanded over the radio.

"ATC, I have visual of the Bogey…it's…a man!"

"Say again Raider 4?"

"IT'S A MAN! A FLYING MAN!"

This time there was no response over the radio. The Raptor pilot watched out of his window as Albus used all of his power to keep the plane steady. Ahead, the earth was getting very big, very fast!

==== DOVER AIR FORCE BASE - DELAWARE - USA - DECEMBER 17TH - 2020 A.D. ====

"That's impossible Raider 4!" The Major spat.

"I'm gonna have to disagree with you there ATC!"

"Raider 2, can you confirm?"

"Wait one." The Second Raptor pilot transmitted.

A few seconds past and Alonso watched Raider 2 maneuverer next to Raider 4.

"Holy shit!" The Raider 2 pilot blurted.

"What do you see Raider 2?"

"It is! It's a man!"

"Sir, I think…I think he's trying to help the plane!" The Raider 4 pilot shouted. "He's defiantly keeping them lined up!"

The Major didn't know what to think. Training took over and he focused.

"Raider 2, Drop back and photograph the…bogie."

"Copy that ATC."

"Sir!" Alonso shouted. "394's coming in too steep!"

"If she hit's the runway at that angle, she'll break in half!" The officer blurted.

"Photos snapped, ATC!" The Raider 2 pilots voice reported.

The Major took a breath. It was a crazy idea but it might be their only chance. "Raider 4...try and signal the…man. 394 needs to pull up!"

"I'll try ATC!"

In the skies over the east coast, the Ocean was no longer following them and land was now beneath them. Raider 4 dipped his wings to try and get Albus's attention but he was too focused on the 747. The Raider flashed it's lights but Albus was still to busy to notice.

The pilot desperately looked for another way. Nothing short of firing his guns would alert Albus and that would probably make him think that they were attack him again. They had already lost 2 planes and were about to loose a 3rd!

Then it hit him. He flicked open a switch cover and hit the large red button beneath it marked: FLARES

The Jet's counter-measures blasted out from it's sides. The light and noise caused Albus to turn his head.

The pilot immediately began making hand signals out of the cockpit window, trying to instruct Albus. He pointed at the 747 then pointed to the sky above him. He breathed a sigh of relief as Albus nodded.

Al flipped himself onto the belly of the cockpit. He pushed upwards with all his might but the plane was simply too heavy!

Light began to poor from his arms an he extended his field. His range was too short and he couldn't get field around the front of the plane, at least not enough to lift it.

Albus had an euphony!

He blasted himself forward then back flipped and slowed causing the plane to shot beneath him. He landed on the tail of the 747. This time he pushed down!

With the gravity of the earth giving him a helping hand, the front of the plane began to lift as the back began to dip.

They were lined up for a landing!

"Ladies & Gentlemen, we are going to attempt an emergency landing. Please assume crash positions with your seat belts fastened!" The co-pilot commanded over the intercom.

"Gear down!" The captain said as he flicked switches on the controls in front of him.

The Landing gear dropped out of the belly and locked into position. The ground was getting very close, very quickly. Only 200 feet off the ground, both the captain and the co-pilot knew that they had overshot their landing target. They were coming down right in the middle of the runway.

There was a horrible screech of tires and massive jolt as the tires hit the tarmac!

The breaks were slammed on immediately causing the whole plane to shake. The still functioning engines roared as they were thrown into reverse, but it wasn't enough!

They didn't have enough runway to stop and 500 feet ahead of them were the safety barriers followed by the huge, white maintenance warehouses.

Albus flew forward, flipping in mid air and slamming into the nose cone of the 747.

The entire plane lurched as he threw all his power against it. The plane was slowing but not quickly enough. They were still speeding down the runway at 120 MPH! Albus looked over his shoulder to see the warehouses getting bigger.

On his right and his left, Fire engines and police cars were shooting past, preparing for the inevitable carnage!

"STOP YOU BIG MOTHER FUCKER! STOP!" Albus roared as he pushed hard against the plane!

But it didn't! 200 Feet between him and being splattered against the metal walls, the door of light flashed inside his mind.

He knew what he had to do!

At 100 feet before impact, he summoned every ounce of power in his body and pushed down on the nose of the plane!

The force was so strong that the speed and sudden shift in weight caused the tail to lift up into the air and entire plane to hand stand! The hull buckled and moaned as it threatened to break like a twig! 380 tonnes of metal, luggage and people were launched into the air and for a heat beat, Albus was carrying the entire 747 on his shoulders!

The weight immediately overwhelmed him, he pushed forwards slightly allowing the tail fall backwards. He created a gravity field beneath the nose of the plane, using it like a giant cushion, to bring the plane back to earth.

It slammed back onto it's landing gear with a massive rumble.

For a few seconds that's all there was. A plane with one blown engine and 400+ terrified passengers sitting at the end of a runway, only 23 feet from the warehouses that would have shredded them alive.

Albus was exhausted. His head fell against the nose of the 747 where he breathed heavily. "Good girl…" He whispered, giving the nose a 'pat' well done.

==== DOVER AIR FORCE BASE - DELAWARE - USA - DECEMBER 17TH - 2020 A.D. ====

"THEY'RE DOWN!" Alonso yelled with excitement!

The entire Air Traffic Control room burst into jubilant cheers and relief.

"Get search and rescue on the horn. Get em to find our pilots." The Major said with a smile on his face.

ATLANTIC CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - NEW JERSEY - USA - DECEMBER 17TH - 2020 A.D.

Around him, Albus saw that fire crews and police officers were running towards the plane. He heard radios going wild and sirens blaring. Then something else caught his attention.

Cheering.

He looked around to see about 50+ maintenance worker at the entrance to the warehouse. They were screaming and clapping.

They were cheering him!

The doors of the plane burst open and the inflatable ramps unfolded and filled with air.

Albus realized that he was still floating on the nose cone of the plane. He dropped down onto the ground.

The Police and Fire fighters slowed down as they got closer to him. They stared shamelessly at him, completely in awe.

_Wonderful…now they think I'm Superman!_ He sighed to himself.

It started with only one brave police officer but soon the entire crowed had joined in. They were clapping. And cheering! Some had even pulled out mobile phones and were snapping pictures of him!

Albus felt strangely awkward. He had never expected this! They weren't running and screaming…they weren't shooting at him! They weren't even afraid.

They were cheering a hero…Albus was a hero.

With great effort his managed a feeble wave followed by a grin before checking the skies to see if their were any other planes that he would almost smash into. He didn't wait for the passengers to start sliding down the bright yellow inflatable ramps.

He pushed off from the ground and blasted himself into the air.

==== DOVER AIR FORCE BASE - DELAWARE - USA - DECEMBER 17TH - 2020 A.D. ====

Alonso's screen started beeping.

"Sir, he's leaving."

The Major looked at the tiny dot on the screen. "Let him go." He smiled.

Alonso watched the dot until it fell off the radar range. It was at that point that Albus stopped off and apologized to the extremely bewildered fisherman that was staring at the AMRAAM Missile that was lying on his desk. He picked up the weapon and blasted his way back towards the UK.

He came in low over the coast near Cornwall to avoid the British radar. The last thing that he wanted was another tussle with fighter jets! He then made his way up the island, doing his best to stay away from populated areas but his ego just kept nagging at him.

He had to know what the world was saying about him.

71 Minutes after saving the 747, Albus was sat on top of a Glasgow building, watching the giant glass screen that had been fix to the side of it. BBC News 24 was being broadcast. The moving headlines across the bottom of the screen read: _SUPERHERO?_

Some how someone had captured footage of him stopping the jet airliner by making it handstand! It looked like it had been taken from a high resolution camera phone or possible CCTV somewhere near the runway.

He had to admit, it made him look pretty cool!

The headline changed. _WHO IS THIS COLOSSUS?_

Albus smiled._ Albus 'The Colossus' Potter…I like the sound of that…_


	16. Vigilanty

==== VIGILANTLY ====

==== HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - DECEMBER 17TH - 2020 A.D. ====

James had been check his brothers room in the Dark Tower ever 3 minutes since he had gotten back from Hogsmead. He and his pals had entered Merlin's Mug only seconds after Albus had arrived outside the bank in Baltimore and processed to uses the bank robbers as human bludgers.

Rose, Scorpius, Lynx, Violet and even Tannis had also been checking around the school for him but were all pretty sure that he wasn't back yet. The only person that hadn't come looking for Al, was Aurora.

There was a clunk of metal from inside the room. James shot straight through the door to see his brother pulling off his raincoat. The Missile was stood against the wall. He threw the raincoat onto the missile using like a coat stand.

"You…ARE THE FUCKING MAN!" James yelled with an enormous smile on his face!

"Okay…keep it down!" Albus sighed, still tired from his ordeal.

"I just…I…My brother is a superhero! This is the coolest thing ever!" James walked over and hugged him.

"So…how did it look on the tube?"

"Incredible!" James chirped. "The whole bloody wizarding world is in an uproar! Dad and everyone else went straight back to the ministry!"

"YOU!"

James and Albus looked towards the doorway to see Rose Weasley looking like she was ready to detonate. She marched straight over to Albus and stand punching him as many times as she could!

"YOU! BLOODY! IDIOT! WHAT! WERE! YOU! THINKING!" She screamed!

Rose didn't seem to care that her fists were simply bouncing off of his shield. Eventually James said 'Protego' causing a shield to appear between Albus and his crazed cousin.

"Rose calm down! He just saved all those people!" James tried.

"He is suppose to be keeping a low profile! What the hell do you call getting your face plastered all over the TV!" She hissed.

"Good publicity?"

Rose now looked conflicted. She wasn't sure who to start hitting again; James or Albus.

Albus grinned. "Would you rather I let those people die, Rose?"

"Of course not! But…what your doing…you can't just -"

"Why not?" Albus said simply. "The only thing that scares you about this is that it's never been done before."

"The ministry is going crazy! Need I remind you that the last person that could fly was -"

"The darkest wizard in history? I think even the ministry would have figured out that if I was Voldemort, I wouldn't be saving people."

"What is that?!" Rose snapped, pointing at the missile.

"Err…coat stand." Albus said sheepishly.

"Why does it say U.S. Air Force on it?" Rose was speaking through gritted teeth, trying to control her anger.

"That's a typo…"

She was now looking far more dangerous than the weapon it's self. "Albus… Why do you have a missile in your bedroom?!"

"They gave it to me…"

"THEY SHOT IT AT YOU! DIDN'T THEY!?"

"Maybe…"

"You got into a fight with the muggle military?" James breathed.

"Hey! They started shooting and me! I was on my way back!"

"Good thing that didn't get shown on the TV!"

"You are unbelievable!" Rose sighed.

"And still unidentified…," Scorpius had appeared at the door. "It doesn't look like any of the cameras managed to snap a good shot of your face," He sounded worried but was clearly relieved to see his friend unharmed.

"If anyone knew it was me, I think half the world would be knocking at my door by now," Albus smiled, grabbing a beer from his stash. He popped the top off and took a big chug.

"You see what their calling you?" Scorpius asked.

Albus nodded. "The Colossus… Yeah, I like it. It's a hell of a lot better than Gravaton anyway…"

"Tell me you weren't actually going to call your self Gravaton!" James laughed.

"It's was a work in progress!"

There was a knock at the door. Albus's heart sank as he saw Aurora standing there. Her face was emotionless.

"Hi…," She said simply.

Scorpius, James and Rose suddenly felt extremely awkward to be there.

"James, I need you to go down to the dungeons and borrow some poly-juice potion," Albus ordered. "Mal, Rose, check around school, make sure nobody suspects me." They all seemed very happy to have a reason to leave.

Albus waited a few second for them to leave before he even looked at Aurora. For some reason he still felt intimidated around her.

"I had to do this…," He breathed.

"You had to do this." She repeated. Her voice was hollow and sad. It only made Albus feel worse, but his convictions weren't going to change.

"Those people were going to die."

"Yes, they were…do you know how many people have died since you arrived back here? People die every day, Albus…you can't save all of them."

"I can try."

"You remind me of my father sometimes. He was stubborn." Albus didn't fail to notice that she said 'was'. "I know she told you."

"I'm sorry."

"About my father or for being a hero?"

"Look, I didn't ask for this! I didn't sit around everyday wishing that I had extraordinary abilities so that I could fly off and be a superhero!"

"No…you just dropped out of the sky and gave everyone hope." She smiled but it was obvious that she was still upset. "This is your life now Albus. You can't just pretend it never happened. Living the double life is never easy. But you have to endure. You were right. The world just showed you that it needs the Colossus."

Albus was confused. He hadn't expected this. Aurora admitting that she was wrong and then encouraging him to continue being the hero. Deep down she knew that Albus was far more important than her. She had spent her entire life at Hogwarts trying to keep him safe. Putting his life before hers. In the space of an hour, he had become a symbol of hope. The world needed him more than she did.

"I need you to be with me on this." He breathed.

"No…I can't do that Albus."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not about me. It's about you. I came here to protect you…but it's pretty obvious that you don't need my protection anymore." She sighed.

"I need you!" Albus looked her in the eye but there was nothing there. The fiery passion that burned behind her wolf like eyes had died out. She had admitted defeat.

She moved up and kissed him softly on the cheek. "Good luck, Albus." She whispered before turning and leaving.

Albus couldn't help feel like she was saying goodbye.

==== POTTER MANOR - OUTSIDE PETHAM - UK -DECEMBER 23RD - 2020 A.D. ====

Over the span of a week, The Colossus had made over two dozen appearances all over the world and was now the biggest news story since 9/11. He stopped a kidnapping in Paris, put out a building fire in Denmark and had even go so far as to stack 15 tanks on top of each other in an effort to promote a cease fire in the Gaza Strip.

He was getting faster as well, now able to breach the mark 5 point, cutting his response times in half. He got his information from the Wireless, muggle news channels and a very helpful police scanner that Sophia had given him. The moment he was needed, he was gone. James would drink poly-juice potion and imitate his brother while he was off saving the world.

And everywhere he went, he was cheered. Everyone wanted to know who he was and much to Albus's delight, no one had found out. Luckily, he seemed to have been given a free international passport because he hadn't been attacked or even followed by any military forces while travelling. It seemed that the military had forgiven they're little dispute over the skies of America.

In fact the only people in the world that didn't like The Colossus was the wizarding world. Half of them were simply suspicious of him while the other half were convinced that he was a Dark Lord waiting to happen. Because of his ability to fly, people immediately associated him with Voldemort. Harry hated him because of what he did in the warehouse. Hermione hated him because he was breaking every single rule they had and was threatening to expose the wizarding world. They both condemned his actions, calling him a Vigilantly.

Not everyone felt that way however. In fact it was mostly the young wizards and witches that secretly cheered the Colossus.

Hugo for one, wouldn't shut up about him. James was more supportive than ever. Rose begrudgingly agreed to keep his secret but was still very worried about him. Lily was blissfully unaware and Scorpius was still playing the protective best friend.

He still took time to appreciate them. Albus was especially happy when he finally managed to get his parents to invite Scorpius over for Christmas. They had agreed in the hopes that Albus wouldn't explode in another array of mass insults.

Rose like Albus, was delighted that her boyfriend would be around. Ron on the other hand looked like the blood vessel in his head was about to pop. It was doubtful that he would let Rose out of his sight when Scorpius was around and had probably gotten Hermione to cast the same 'anti underage sex wards' around the house that they had up at Hogwarts

Of course, despite everything that was going on, Albus always found his mind wondering back to Aurora. He was still trying to work out what the real meaning behind 'Good Luck, Albus'. He refused to believe that she was saying goodbye to him. He couldn't imagine not having her in his life.

It had been the only thing on his mind as he had finally gotten to sleep 4 hours earlier after returning from South America. He could have slept for the whole day if it weren't for James waking him up.

"Wakey, Wakey!" James said, pulling open Albus's curtains letting the daylight flood through.

Albus winced and groaned. "Superheroes need sleep too!"

"I thought you said you only needed 4 hours a day?"

"That was before I started saving the world!"

"Yes well, the Colossus can't be caught napping when there's a crisis, so get up!" James ordered.

Albus grumbled as he sat up in bed. His shoulder twanged with pain causing him to groan and start massaging it. James noticed his brothers injury, clearly a result of last nights heroics.

"I thought your bloody shield was suppose to keep you unscathed!" James was unable to hide the concern in his voice.

"It does. It's just a sprain." Albus mumbled.

"If that is to be the first of many injuries to come, I suggest you come up with a good excuse for them!"

"I'm not joining the Quidditch team James and besides, it's nothing."

"A souvenir from Brazil?"

"You could say that. Buses are heavy…who knew?" Albus smirked as James pulled out his wand and pointed it at his brothers busted shoulder. He started muttering one of the healing spells he remembered from Molly Weasley.

"You should get Rose to do this. I've never been good at healing spells."

"And I'm sure she'd have nothing to lecture me about."

"She worries about you."

"I can understand that, but this is nothing. And you know she would overreact."

"Yeah well, you may have to learn to tend to your own injuries soon. I might be a little too busy being your poly-juice drinking sidekick to patch you up," James smirked.

"Your not a sidekick! You're my very helpful assistant. My Alibi." Albus smiled.

"Yes, well your alibi might be working a little too well."

"What do you mean?"

"Mum and Dad are starting to think your some kind of reclusive. A shut in. They never see you leave the house and if you start turning up with strange, unknown injuries, I think they're gonna get really concerned. I know Hermione is getting nosey again. She keeps asking me all these weird questions. Like she's trying to catch me out or something," James explained. "I think she knows when I'm impersonating you."

"That woman is too smart for her own good. Still…I knew it was only a matter of time before she started to put it together. Me suddenly ageing five years and then a superhero turning up. To be honest, I'm surprise that it took her this long," Albus sighed.

"She suspects is all. She's got no hard evidence so I think she's keeping the idea that her nephew is a super powered crime fighter to her self for the moment." James said as he continued to work on Al's shoulder.

"What do you think we should do?"

"Well, as I've always said; The most convincing lies are the ones with some truth in them."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you are the son of an extremely wealthy and powerful celebrity icon. Perhaps you should start acting like one."

"And what does the son of an extremely wealthy and powerful celebrity icon do exactly?"

"Dates models, gets into trouble, spends stupid amounts of money. Pretty much what I do." James smirked.

"When have you ever dated a model?"

"Well…I saw Estelle Wagtail the other day. There was a little twinkle in her eye." James boasted.

"Isn't she like 6 years older than you?"

"I like older women."

"Yeah, me too…"

"Your not still moody about Aurora are you?"

Albus glared and James.

"Fine…say no more," James held up his hands innocently. "But she's right you know. Everything that the Colossus is doing is far more important than Albus Severus Potters relationship problems."

"We don't have a rela…The Colossus is meant to inspire people into making a better world. I was kinda hoping she would be in that world," Albus sighed.

"She hasn't moved to another planet Al! You'll see her back at Hogwarts. Besides, it's working. It was in the papers today. Crime has fallen by 19% in this week alone! Not even dad could have done something like that!"

"And yet the ministry still hates me."

"They don't hate you, they hate The Colossus and I can't says I blame them,"

Albus looked at his brother with raised eyebrows.

"Well think about it Al. Our parents, along with every other wizard and witch in the world has grown up with the belief that certain things were simply impossible. They believed that power had limitations, then you came along and smashed those boundaries down. Not only that but you also hammered the people that they rely on to keep them safe. You've pushed them into a position that they've never been in before. It's no wonder they're frightened of you!" James confessed.

Albus knew he was telling the truth. If his ego hadn't gotten in the way and encouraged him to show off, they would be a lot less bias towards his alter-ego.

"They're also convinced that your some kind of wizard and if that's true then you risk exposing the wizarding world!"

"Well, the rest of the world seems pretty happy that I've turned up." Albus tried to look on the bright side.

"Of course they are. How many muggles to do see on the news, begging and praying that something will help them out when they need it? You answered their prayers. You're exactly what the world thought would never really happen, but at the same time, secretly hoped for. The wizarding world on the other hand, still hasn't fully recovered from fighting a person that displayed your kind of power. They want normality and your giving them the extraordinary! They've even put a warrant out for your arrest!" James chuckled at the notion that the Colossus could actually be arrested.

"That wasn't exactly the kind of inspiration I was hoping for."

"I think controversy and greatness go hand in hand. You'll never find an idealistic, squeaky clean hero that changed the world. Everyone's gotta have a little dirt on them, especially the people that matter." He seriously.

"When did you become so philosophical?" Albus was truly surprised.

"I'd say right around the time you started knocking planes out of the sky," James smiled. "And as were on the subject, I think we should work on your disguise."

"There's nothing wrong with my disguise."

"Sunglasses and a rain coat do not constitute a disguise!"

"I'm not wearing spandex and a cap James, so forget it! I use the grav fields to practically glue the damn things to my body. They never fall off and they've worked so far!"

"They've worked so far, because you've been getting in and out before anyone can take any decent snaps of you."

"Well, I'm not really the autograph and pose sort, am I?"

"Just saying…it couldn't help to be cautious. A little bit of mischief here and there should never be discouraged but painting a bulls eye on your head is just plain stupid. Besides, I didn't think you wanted to give Hermione anything else to go on."

"If she becomes a problem I'll deal with it."

"Your not planning on throwing a motorcycle at her, are you?"

It was a tempting idea…

A few hours later, Albus had again settled into his routine of reading the Prophet, followed by the Quibbler whilst listening to the wireless in the living room which, like the rest of the house, had already been decorated for Christmas.

If anything came up, he and James would disappeared into a secluded part of the house, swap identities and The Colossus would deal with whatever was going on.

The Daily Prophet had yet again questioned every single one of his actions with possible malicious undertones. They were even going as far as to suggest that he was only saving people in order to lure the world into a false sense of security.

He tried not to giggle at it but couldn't help himself. His ears were fixed firmly on the wireless broadcast, which, as usual, was also talking about the Colossus. They were currently discussing the Muggles reaction to his presence.

"…that the muggles are showing unwavering support for him?" The voice of a reported asked.

"Yes, well they would, wouldn't they?!" The unmistakable snide voice of Percy Weasley came over the transmission. "They have no idea about The Dark Lord or the kind of powers he possessed. If they did, I'm sure the muggles would be a lot more cautious of this…Colossus."

James walked into the room. He immediately started shaking his head at what his uncle was saying.

"That was senior under secretary, Percival Weasley, speaking this morning from the ministry. Although much of the wizarding world remains hesitant to trust the Colossus, the muggles seem to be sold. This is a statement made during a press conference from the White House yesterday, by the muggle president of the United States of America…" The DJ's voice said.

"You will never hear myself or anyone in this administration, justifying, encouraging or gratifying a Vigilantly. No one, not matter how powerful they are, is above the law. That being said, you also never hear myself or this administration, demonizing or trying to stop a person that saves innocent lives. The Colossus has been helping the world in ways it may have never been able to do on it's own and he has never asked for anything in return." The Presidents voice was firm and full of conviction.

"What about the rumors that The Colossus may have contributed to the mid-air collision that took place -" Someone at the press conference yelled.

"We are not ruling out a possible accident. But are certainly not making any accusations either. The Colossus has shown no intentions of trying to get involved in the political or governing entities of this or any country around the world. He is simply giving help to people that need it and we will not stand in the way of that."

"That was President Palmer speaking at the White House…"

"Getting kudos from the prez? Not bad Al." James smiled.

"It's a start. Least they won't try and shoot me down again." Al grinned.

"Oh, I almost forgot," James rummaged around in his pocket for a moment. "Here." He threw a small bag to Albus.

"What's this?"

"Puking pastilles. Just encase you need to suddenly run out of the dinner tomorrow."

"Nice."

"Yes well, trickery, deception and mischief are my main talents." James bowed.

"I'm actually kinda glad that your not an Anomaly." Albus smiled.

Their attention was grabbed by what seemed to be several Weasley's pilling through the front door. The family was already arriving for the traditional Christmas meal the following day. Albus turned up the wireless slightly so that he could hear it over the racket.

Albus could smell a scent that he didn't recognize. It was followed by a dreamy voice from the hallway.

Luna Scamander.

Several people entered the living room at the same time. Luna, Rolf, Hugo, Rose, Hermione, Ron and Lily all came in carrying various bags and packages.

"Hello Albus." She smiled.

"Surprised you recognize me." Albus admitted.

"It's not hard. Your smile hasn't changed, neither have your eyes." She said absently.

Albus had always been quite impressed with Luna's ability to see the little things that made a person who they are.

Molly Weasley entered the living room whilst levitating a double baby buggy. Lorcan and Lysander Scamander were wrapped up tightly in the buggy, looking around with wide eyes, as if they found everything to be fascinating.

"So how's Brazil been?" Albus smiled.

"Oh wonderful. I think there are more unknown creatures there then in the forbidden forest. And The Colossus was there yesterday."

"Yeah," James grinned. "We heard about it over the wireless. Saved a bus full of people didn't he?"

"Yes he did," Rolf said happily. "Can't say I'm surprised that he had to either. The roads over there can be very dangerous."

"Oh Albus, James, be dears and help us pack away this shopping will you," Molly seemed to want to interrupt the conversation before it began steering towards The Colossus again. "Bill and Fleur will be here soon,"

Albus sighed. Bill & Fleur most likely meant Teddy and Victoire as well. Although Albus felt no reservations about being nice to them, he would rather not ruin another family Christmas by splattering Teddy Lupin all over the wall.

Albus and James grabbed a couple of bags and headed towards the kitchen.

"Try not to kill him." James whispered.

"No promises."

Harry, Ginny and the rest of the family arrived at random intervals over the rest of the day. Most of it was spent getting Potter Manor ready for the Christmas lunch. A few more decorations had been put up and lots more presents had arrived under the stupidly large Christmas tree.

==== POTTER MANOR - OUTSIDE PETHAM - UK - DECEMBER 24TH - 2020 A.D. ====

Although the meal it's self was enormous, it still wasn't enough to satisfy the massive gathering of Weasley's a Potters. The entire family was sitting at the long dining table as several different types of drink flew through the air, offering to top up the empty glasses.

Kreacher was busy, rushing in and out of the dining room, clearing the plates away from the table.

Albus had made sure to keep the wireless on in the other room. Although the conversations were quite loud, he would still be able to pick up any major problems that could be happening. He glanced over to see Scorpius looking extremely nervous and out of place. Both Draco and Astoria were absent from the meal after making their various excuses. Scorpius explained after his arrival that they were actually using the Christmas season to steal a few days off work and spend some 'quality time' together.

Apparently Draco had whisked his wife off to Paris for a few days.

Scorpius didn't mind and had actually managed to get a little bit of 'quality time' with Rose before Ron had once again interrupted them. There was no chase around Potter Manor but Ron had made sure that Scorpius and Rose were seated at opposite ends of the table.

To the displeasure of several Weasley/Potters, the conversations about Teddy and Victoires wedding and various stories from work had quickly shifted back to The Colossus. Albus wasn't surprised, he was the most talked about person in the world at that moment.

"Eeh iz nussing more zan a Vigilantly and a bully. Eez brutality shows as much!" Fleur remarked.

"I heard that those men he stopped in Baltimore are still in critical condition at the hospital!" Angelina agreed.

"You can't deny it thought… He has made an impact…" Fred Weasley stated.

"Hats ight!" Hugo added with his mouth still full of food. He swallowed before continuing. "He's got the bad guys shaking in their boots! I mean, isn't that what you do dad?"

"We obey the laws that we uphold Hugo," Harry stepped in to explain. "The Colossus doesn't obey any laws. He does what he wants, when he wants."

Albus fought to keep the smirk off his face.

"But he's saving people! He's fighting criminals! Isn't that a good thing?" Lily asked.

"Yes, and I seem to remember Grindlewalt wanting to rule over the muggles in order to 'help' them." Hermione remarked in anger.

"That's right! And the fact that the muggles are idolizing him, isn't helping!" Victoire agreed.

"Exactly," Albus couldn't stop himself. He had to join in simply to revel in the irony later on. "Nobody asked the Colossus to save them. He doesn't wear a uniform, he doesn't carry a badge, he doesn't follow the rules! I mean the guy is clearly a fruit loop!"

"Nobody asked him to, but they are very happy that he has." Scorpius said quietly.

"Not everyone!" Ron growled.

"What?!" Hugo blurted. "A person with the power to make the world a better place turns up, starts helping people and you lot think he's the bad guy?!"

"Anyone that thinks he is above the law is not a hero Hugo. Even if the muggles are determined to call him one!" Percy scowled.

"Well maybe we should redefine the word 'Hero'." Scorpius added, receiving several glares.

"It's not what he does, it's how he does it," Victoire retorted. "We all know that power corrupts! How long before that power goes to his head? He may be a hero now but later…"

"Your absolutely right Vic," Albus was still fighting the urge to laugh. He had a feeling that James and Scorpius were having just as much trouble. "Power does corrupt. But there are a few…rare individuals that are simply…incorruptible. I'm just hoping that The Colossus is one of them."

"Well, he hasn't shown much evidence of being incorruptible. It seems more like he's showing off." Hermione said while looking Albus in the eye.

He brushed it off with ease. A year or so ago he would have hidden his head in shame but now, he wasn't intimidated by any of them.

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions," Luna chimed.

"Exactly," Harry agreed "Even Dumbledore admitted that he wasn't immune to the temptations of power. No matter what plans he had to try and better this world, he knew that they would become twisted if he was given too much power."

"That's why I don't believe there is such a thing as an incorruptible person." Victoire stated.

"What are you trying to say Victoire?" Scorpius spoke up, grabbing everyone's attention. "heroes either die and become legends or they live and become villains?"

She didn't answer. A silence fell over the table as they all considered this. Albus was the only one who knew it wasn't true and was still trying not to burst into laughter. That fact that these people were unknowingly sitting at the same table as the Colossus while saying these things was hilarious to him.

"Okay…now I'm worried." Harry grinned.

Laughter broke out.

"I think…it only works if you really believe that you are a hero. And we all know that you are way too modest to ever do that Harry." Teddy smiled.

"Well, I think he is trying to help," Luna's dreamy voice said. "He has been doing great things. Crime has fallen more in this week than in the last 10 years. But unfortunately he seems to be making the same mistakes that many people make."

"What mistakes?" James asked, extremely curious.

"When everything is going well in front of your eyes, you often forget about the things you can't see. He doesn't seem all that concerned with the real criminals of the world. War criminals, drug lords, terrorism, the ethnic cleansing's that are still taking place. Just because those things aren't on the news that much, doesn't mean that they aren't happening." She explained.

This made Albus feel sick to his stomach. She was absolutely right. In the ocean of crime, he had been focusing on the little fish that steal at other peoples bait. He had completely ignored the sharks that actually eat people. He looked up to see Scorpius give him a little nod, trying to tell him 'it's not your fault.'

Albus wasn't convinced. He had the power to stop these terrible things but he hadn't.

It was these thoughts that plague his mind for the rest of the evening.

==== KENSINGTON - LONDON - UK - DECEMBER 25TH - 2020 A.D. ====

Brain Wells pulled up in his silver Audi, and backed into his garage. All the houses on the street came with personally parking garages. One of the perks of having a house that cost over £600,000. Since his divorce, his income had been cut in half and he was doing very well to keep the house out of dept.

He was in his mid 40's, with dark down hair and glasses.

He grabbed his briefcase and locked the car. He entered through the main entrance, typing in his security key code into the little box next to the bell.

Inside, the house was way too big for a single occupant but at times he liked it that way. He valued his privacy. He walked into the kitchen, in which all of the surfaces were covered in what looked like marble. Everything was clean and seemed almost unused.

There were no Christmas decorations up and Wells liked it that way. He knew he would be one of the few that worked on Christmas day and he would be buying all his own presents so there was no point in getting into the festive cheer.

He put his case down next to the fridge.

Suddenly he spun around, drawing a pistol from his belt and aiming it.

"You know that won't hurt me."

Wells knew instantly who the intruder was. The rain coat and sunglasses were known throughout the world now.

"I hope you don't mind. I let myself in." The Colossus said before taking a sip of some of Wells' whiskey.

Wells lowered the gun and holstered it.

"What do you want?" He asked carefully.

"Every time I've done something in England, you have shown up at the scene."

"It's my job." Wells said simply.

"What exactly is your job?"

Wells decided it was probably best not to lie to a man that could quite easily send him into orbit. "I'm an operations manager. I liaise between MI5 and MI6."

"So you get all the juicy stuff coming across your desk. Right?"

"I guess you could say that."

"Well, it looks like I came to the right place after all." The Colossus smiled.

"Why?"

"I've got criminals all over the world scared to go to work because I might show up. Terrifying these people has done more than locking them up ever could have. But it's not enough. All the ones I've hit so far are small time."

"And now you wanna up your game, is that it?" Well deduced.

"Exactly. You have files, information on the worst of the worst. I want them."

"It's not that simple."

"Why not?"

"Look, some of these people, we've been after for five…even ten years and we still haven't got em. Others, we couldn't touch with a barge poll. Diplomatic immunity and stuff…," The Colossus crooked his head like a confused dog. "But I guess that means nothing to you?"

"Not a thing."

Wells took a deep breath. He knew what he was asking. For him to knowingly hand a Vigilantly some of the highest priority targets in the world. And what was worse is that he knew it could actually work. The Colossus could get into places that normal people never could. There were no limits on his jurisdiction and the criminals could exactly sue him for excessive force.

"You know how ugly things will get if you start involving yourself in the underbelly of the criminal world. You wanna go after the big dogs, sooner or later you might get bitten!"

"I knew the risks when I started doing this."

Wells laughed. He wasn't entirely convinced but his offer was tempting.

"I can't just smuggle files out of MI6! They'll think I'm stealing and selling secrets!" Wells tried.

"Oh, I'm sure that wouldn't stop a smart guy like you."

Wells turned to look at the clock on the wall. 3:20 PM. He took another deep breath and rubbed the back of his neck. "Are you sure you can get these guys?"

He turned to see that The Colossus was gone. He had left the moment he knew that Wells would help him.


	17. A Life Less Ordinary

==== A LIFE LESS ORDINARY ====

==== DARTMOOR NATIONAL PARK - DEVON - UK - DECEMBER 27TH - 2020 A.D. ====

She had actually sent him a Christmas Card, which included the details of how to contact her. At least, at that time. The details would change once she moved around again. He had landed a few miles away and walked the rest of the way, just on the off chance that the Cleric's might actually decide to show up. They seemed to be staying in the shadows for the moment.

The fact that The Colossus was now the most known about person in the world, had obviously forced them to change their tactics. While he was walking, he couldn't help but doubt that she would even be there. But here she was.

Sophia studied his mood. His anxiousness. Everything. She was the all seeing eye…but even she had to blink. As they sat on the bench in the nearly deserted part of the enormous national park, Albus only managed to look frustrated.

She was 2200 years old. She had learned patience's, humility and how to deal with others problems along time ago and that's how she knew, that she couldn't speak first. Albus's lips had twitched several times but no words had come out.

"Tell me I'm doing the right thing Sophia," Albus breathed.

"Your doing the right thing," She said instantly. "But that's not what you really want to hear."

Albus looked at her for an explanation. An explanation to everything.

"You want Aurora to tell you that your doing the right thing." She said.

"She doesn't approve…,"

"She just needs time. She's still coming to terms with what's happened. She hasn't abandoned you. She can't. She hates being alone…but for the moment, she needs to figure things out." Sophia said softly.

"Like what?"

"Like what she's suppose to do now that she doesn't have to spend her every waking moment protecting you." Sophia said simply.

Albus thought for a second. The Colossus truly had spun people around. Even the people that he never meant to.

"I miss her…," He admitted.

"She misses you. It's not hard to see. But the Colossus can't miss people. He can't get sad or tired or decide that today is his day off. He has to be more than human…that way, he can't be corrupted."

"Wells gave me this," Albus pulled out a folded up piece of paper from his back pocket. "To be honest I was expecting more." He handed the paper to her.

"Mexico?"

"They think that there's some kind of big Heroine Factory down there," Albus said looking around at the bushes and trees that lined the park.

"It's an audition. He wants to see if your reliable."

"I'm the fucking Colossus, of course I'm reliable!" Albus spat.

"It's a test run Albus. You do this right and the job is yours, it's that simple."

"I want to stop the people that commit genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing! The people that think they are immune to justice! Not some poor villagers that got pulled off the streets and stuck in a drug cooking plant! I should be going after the guys that are behind places like that!"

"Drugs wreck peoples lives Albus. You'll be saving them." She tried.

"Most people get hooked on that stuff by choice! It's not the Colossus' job to tell people how to live!"

"But it is his job to save lives. It's a package deal Albus. Being Hero means being a hero. You can't pick and choose which aspects you prefer. You signed up for this and now you have to see it through!"

"I'm going to!" Albus hissed in frustration.

"This was never just going to end over night. It takes time and effort," She sighed. "I know your up to the challenge but it will take time. You are The Colossus and whether it's a man on a street corner selling drugs or a man behind a desk ordering the deaths of 20,000 people, they are now your responsibility! And as fast as you can fly, your not going to be able to get them all in a week!"

"I KNOW!" Albus jumped up from the bench in a rage. He paced around in frustration. "I just…I wish Aurora was here," He said quietly.

"She is," Sophia stood so that she could look him in the eye. "She's always with you, she just hasn't arrived yet." She smiled.

He couldn't stop a little smirk from appearing on his face. Sometimes It was annoying how easily she could make him feel better. He wished he had that talent.

"Now…go do the superhero thing!"

==== POTTER MANOR - OUTSIDE PETHAM - UK - DECEMBER 29TH - 2020 A.D. ====

The Heroine Plant had been exactly as he was expecting. Easy. Out of the 60 people that were there, only 10 of them had actually been armed. The others had been forced, probably at gun point, to work the factory. They had gotten out without a problem and after taking out the guards, Albus torched the entire place.

It had taken a day for the news to spread. Naturally people were impressed with what he had done. The Wizarding World however, wasn't pleased. The Colossus was now interfering with other countries internal issues and they were now wondering how long it would be before he started getting involved with the inner workings of their world.

The were worried that he would start removing elect leaders and replace them with people that secretly worked for him. This only annoyed Albus more.

He was already is a seriously foul mood. Wells had asked for 'more time' to get him info on the 'real bad guys' and on top of that, he seemed to be suffering some kind of withdraw symptoms from not being around Aurora. She was all he could think about and he couldn't stand it.

He would never force himself on her but the idea of throwing her against a wall and kissing her until she admitted her love for him was sounding better and better. All in all, Albus was not happy.

As he listened to the wireless, he prayed for some kind of emergency or crime to hit. Any that could take his mind off things, but the only news was yet more slandering of The Colossus.

"How do we know what he is planning to do next? Throwing the prime minister out of his office and saying that he runs the country now?! If we all went around getting involved with the business of other countries and governments, the world would be thrown into chaos! He beginning to sound less like a vigilante and more like a criminal!" Hermione's outraged voice hissed out of the speakers.

Bitch!

"The-Boy-Who-Lived is likewise, furious at the latest actions of The Colossus…," Another voice reported. "I don't know whether he is just showing off or actually trying to break every law in the world but he is succeeding in doing both!" His father said quickly.

Oh of course! I'm showing off! It's got nothing to do with stopping criminals and saving lives! I just wanna make my self look good on TV!

"The Auror department is working round the clock to try and apprehend this dangerous man before he can cause any more damage!"

Albus growled. That was Teddy Lupins voice. Damage?! I'll show you fucking damage! Normally he could stomach his presence enough not to kill him but today that was becoming difficult.

"Make no mistake, we are going to capture this criminal. We're all looking forward to round 2 with this guy!"

Albus was actually shocked. There was no way that Teddy stupid enough to say something like that!

Did that hybrid piece of shit just ask me for a fight?!

"That was Theodor Remus Lupin speaking from the ministry 30 minutes ago…,"

Hmm…20 minutes…

Albus looked up at the clock. 5:50pm.

They would have finished at 5:30, unless Hermione decided to stay and work overtime, which she often did. With London traffic the way it was, they were probably barely across the river by now.

Alright Lupin! You want Round 2? You got it!

==== OLD KENT ROAD - LONDON - UK - DECEMBER 28TH - 2020 A.D. ====

Harry, Hermione and Teddy were sitting in Harry's Black BMW, crawling at a snails pace through the busy London street. This was a regular occurrence when they actually finished work at the same time as many of the muggles that worked there. As usual, they were talking about work.

"Why do you think she decided to go now?" Teddy asked.

"I Don't know. Maybe it was a spur of the moment thing." Hermione suggested.

"That's doubtful." Harry Mumbled.

"Probably got to protect daddy from the bloody Colossus!" Teddy growled.

"He doesn't seem to be clairvoyant, so I doubt he's any closer to finding him than we are," Hermione said.

"I still wanna question Tannis!"

"Fine. Set up a meeting with him tomorrow. I'm sure he's still at Hogwarts," Harry said.

"That guy is hiding something, I just know-"

Suddenly the car gave an almighty lurch like it had just been hit. Then, without warning, it became airborn!

"NEED A LIFT SHIT HEAD?!" The Colossus roared.

Hermione screamed and all three of them grabbed hold of anything they could as the vehicle was hoisted up and into the sky!

"WHAT'S WRONG LUPIN?! NOTHING TO SAY?!" He yelled as he carried the car and it's terrified passengers, two hundred feet above street level.

"HOW'S THIS FOR SHOWING OFF?!"

The Colossus launched the car, like a pebble across the London skyline. It flew through the air, narrowly missing the top of a build before starting to plummet back to earth.

Hermione screamed in horror as they fell through the air towards the cars below.

Ten feet from impact, the car was suddenly hoisted up again. The Colossus had caught them and begun carrying them back into the air. They were on the worlds most dangerous rollercoaster!

"HEY HARRY, WHERE CAN I DROP YA?!"

He shot through the air, taking the car with him. He had spotted what he was looking for.

End of the road!

The Colossus 'gently' dropped the car on to the very top of the Millennium Dome. A few seconds later the sound of a sonic bomb erupted.

It took Harry, Teddy and Hermione almost two minutes to finally climb of the car. They were dizzy and in complete shock from being inside a car that had just been used as a giant metal bludger.

They looked around, realizing that they were stuck on top of one of the biggest buildings in the world!

Although shock made it difficult to think clearly, they all arrived at the same theory: Pissing off a superhero is a very bad idea.

==== POTTER MANOR - OUTSIDE PETHAM - UK - DECEMBER 28TH - 2020 A.D. ====

"Did you leave dads car on top of the Millennium dome?" James asked, not sure if was actually dreaming this.

Albus nodded sheepishly.

"Was he inside it?"

Albus nodded again.

James attempted to speak several times but all he could think about was that they were lucky he didn't throw it at them.

James took a seat in front of him at the kitchen table. Albus had been sitting there for a solid hour now. He had a glass of fire whisky sat in front of him. His fourth in a row. He was actually feeling a little tipsy now.

"Was Hermione and Teddy in the car?" James asked carefully.

Albus nodded again.

"So you left the future Minister for Magic…and the saviour of the wizarding world and his godson -"

"Hey! He was asking for it!" Albus snapped.

"Sooo…everything I just heard on the wireless was…true?"

"It could have been worse! I could have made him wear that car up his arse!"

"Good point…," James breathed. He was still in shock.

It was almost 7pm. Albus knew that the muggle police would have let them down by now. They had also probably had to answer some questions about why the Colossus would actually target them. Albus smiled to himself as he imagined Harry, Teddy and Hermione have to confess that the reason they were left stranded on top of a landmark was because they had insulted The Colossus over the radio.

"You know," James started. Albus knew what was coming. Without Rose, teachers or parents around, it was up to James to impress upon Albus that he had just been very irresponsible. "everyone is entitled to their opinions…perhaps, constructive criticism next time instead of hijacking and aggravated assault?"

Albus gave a burp as his response.

"Just a thought…,"

Albus recognized the faint sounds of popping from outside the house as several people Apperating. Those were immediately followed by the voices of his mother and father. They were arguing.

"I warned you about this!" Ginny yelled.

"You agreed with everything we've said about him!" Harry growled back.

"I didn't tell you broadcast your insults and pick a fight with him!" Ginny yelled back.

They charged through the front door of Potter Manor, followed by Teddy, Victorie, Ron and Hermione.

"Ahh, I hate listening to them argue. I'm gonna go upstairs and see what Lily's up to!" James said quickly. He disappeared leaving Albus alone in the kitchen.

Ginny and Harry's argument carried on through the house.

"How was I suppose to know that he'd throw a tantrum about it!" Harry snapped.

A tantrum wasn't the only thing I threw. Albus grinned.

"You've been insulting him for 2 weeks solid! You didn't think that eventually he might get a little pissed off about it?!"

The six of them stormed into the kitchen.

"Good day at work?" Albus asked without a care.

Harry ignored him and walked over to the fridge. He grabbed a bottle of Oak Matured Mead, opened it and took a very big chug.

"Albus, could you give us a minute please?" Ginny sighed.

"Sure." Al smiled.

"And I don't like you drinking!" She snapped, noticing the glass of fire whisky in his hand.

"Oh, I see you heard then," Teddy remarked absently.

"Heard what?"

"About Aurora."

Albus's heart gave a lurch. He allowed him self to think that something bad had happened to her. He couldn't help it. He looked his father dead in eye, demanding an explanation.

Harry sighed. "She's taken a leave of absence from Hogwarts."

The colour drained from Albus's face.

"For how long?!"

"Indefinitely."

She really had left him.

"She can't do that!" Albus growled.

"Well," Hermione interjected. "Technically she can as long as she gets permission from the headmaster."

"And he was more than willing to give it," Teddy snorted. His shock of being treated like a human rugby ball had clearly been replace by anger and an even stronger loathing of the Colossus. "medical reasons if you believe that crap!"

Albus couldn't think. He couldn't imagine life without her in it. His heart was racing.

"We don't know that Tannis is helping her…," Victorie tried.

"Oh come Vic! Any chance we had of catching her old man just left with her and he let it happen! That guy is dirty!" Teddy huffed.

"Tannis is a good man," Albus spoke darkly. "Don't insult him in front of me."

Teddy laughed. "Yeah well that 'good man' was a suspected drug addict at one point!"

"Exactly…suspected. You've got not proof. If your determined to chase your tail, I suggest you transform first!" Albus smiled sadistically.

"Albus!" Ginny cried in outrage.

Teddy was frozen on the spot. When someone insulted a werewolf he always took it as an insult towards his father. He had almost been expelled from Hogwarts at one point after another student made a crack about his wolfish background. He had beaten the poor kid to a blood pulp for it. Of course, Harry stepped in a smoothed things over for him.

"What did you just say?" He look of murder in his eyes.

Teddy and Albus were staring each other down but Albus was still smiling.

"That's odd," Albus mocked. "I though you wolfmen were supposed to have good hearing."

Teddy was ready to go for his wand. "Go fuck yourself!"

"What? Doggie style?" Albus laughed.

That did it! Teddy lunged at Albus but Harry and Ron stepped in and held him back. He struggled against them, trying to get his hands on Albus and tare him apart.

"FUCK YOU, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!" He roared.

"Oooo," Albus was enjoying this. His pain for Aurora had become anger. He was being fuelled by his loathing for the hybrid in front of him and the comments from the wireless. "Careful Lassie, I might have to put you down!"

"ALBUS STOP IT!" Victorie cried. She had joined in on holding Teddy back but they were still having trouble!

"TEDDY CALM DOWN!" Harry yelled.

"Yeah Hooch. Go into the living room and lick your own balls or something!" Albus chirped.

Teddy roared with fury and made another charge at Albus. Harry and the others were now finding it extremely difficult to hold him back!

"ENOUGH! ALBUS LEAVE NOW!" Harry yelled.

Albus looked at his father, half confused, half insulted. "Me leave?"

Loathing for his entire family suddenly swept over him. Aurora had abandoned him and now his own family was choosing a hybrid over him.

"Oh I see…," Albus quietly with hate in his voice. "I suppose I can't blame you. Who would want me? I suppose you would prefer the lesser of two freaks!"

Ginny looked horrified. She knew what Albus meant by that.

Without another word, he turned and stormed out of the kitchen. He headed straight for the front door.

"Albus! Wait!" Ginny cried, chasing after him.

The front door slammed just moments before she reached it.

"Albus!" She opened the door but he was gone.

She scanned the area quickly but there was nothing there. It was impossible! He couldn't Apperate! He was just gone!

==== HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - DECEMBER 28TH - 2020 A.D. ====

By 8 o'clock, Albus touched down in the grounds of Hogwarts. After checking the area he came to assumption that Hagrid was somewhere in the Forbiddon Forest, since his cabin was completely silent.

Still fuming about what had happened earlier, he charged into the school. His anger was hand in hand with frustration. He needed to know why she had left him!

He headed straight for the stone gargoyles that asked him for the password.

"I'm a Potter!" That left a bad taste in his mouth.

They moved aside for him. He knew what Tannis had meant when he had said; "The Potters are always welcome in this office," He moved past the stairs and into the office.

Several of the portraits were already snoozing whilst others were simply fixed in their painted positions. The tiny trinkets and various devices, that never seemed to stop whirling a buzzing were still hard at work.

Tannis was sat behind his desk with a large stack of parchment next to him.

"Why did she leave?! What the hell is this?!" Albus barked. "She can't do this!"

Tannis sighed. He had been expecting this visit. "She can, Albus. It's her decision."

"No, she has friends here! A life! A-a boyfriend!"

"She broke up with him, She plans to visit her friends during the holidays and you were her life here. Protecting you was her reason for being here. She was never going to stay for her NEWTS or try and get a job at the ministry. The plan was for you to go into hiding with her but you had another ideas."

"What?! Your saying it's my fault?!"

"It's nobodies fault Albus. But you made your decision before she made hers."

"What?!"

"Would you give up being the Colossus for her?" Tannis asked.

"YES!" Albus roared immediately.

"No you wouldn't. You would try and maybe even manage to turn a blind eye to the worlds suffering for a while. But eventually, you would go back to doing what you do best."

"And what's that?" Albus hissed.

"What other people can't." He answered simply.

Albus went pale. He slumped against the steps of the office. "Why didn't she talk to me?" He breathed.

"Because she knew she couldn't change your mind." Tannis sighed.

He was right. Aurora was convinced that she would eventually be dropped for someone else. She thought it would be one of his own kind but it turned out to be the whole world.

The door flashed in his minds eye.

Something else occurred to him. Tannis was right about another thing. He could do what nobody else could do. He couldn't stop being the Colossus and he couldn't stop loving her. He could do both!

"Where is she?" He asked.

"I don't know."

"I have to talk to her! Please!"

"No Albus, I really don't know…even though I'm sure I've been there." Tannis said quickly. "Her house has almost as much protection around it as this castle!"

Albus sighed. The enchantments around her home and clearly made him forget where exactly she lived.

"I'm sure it's not in the UK…" Tannis mumbled to himself. He was actually trying to figure out where she lived. "There is a way to contact her, but I can't guarantee that you'll get an answer."

Albus was all ears.

"Do you know how to use the muggle post?"

"Err…it's got something to do with those red boxes on the roads doesn't it." Albus said, realizing that he had never sent a message by anything other than a Owl before.

Tannis pulled his wand and gave it a flick. A small piece of parchment flew out from inside a book that was gathering dust on one of the shelves. It floated over to Albus.

"That's where she checks her mail,"

_Miss A._

_134 Sestiere Castello_

_Venice_

_Italy_

_VE 30125_

"Venice?" Albus was intrigued.

"You know, it could be Venice…" Tannis was still musing the possible location of her house. "I remember it being rather hot."

"Alright," Albus started to leave the office.

"Oh, Albus," Tannis called. "Don't forget to put a stamp on it."

"A stamp?" Albus looked bewildered.

"Yes."

"What kind of stamp?"

"Oh, a first class one should do it."

"Right!" Albus knew what he was talking about now. He had seen them before. He remembered Hermione impressing the need for alternative methods of communication to Harry. This unfortunately meant that he would have to return to Potter Manor in order to get them.

Screw it! Doesn't matter. I'll get in and out quickly, they won't even know I'm there!

==== POTTER MANOR - OUTSIDE PETHAM - KENT - UK - DECEMBER 28TH - 2020 A.D. ====

As planned, Albus entered the house through an upstairs window. As soon as he was inside he was able to pick up the voices of Harry and Hermione. They were in the kitchen, still angrily shouting their frustrations of the days events.

It seemed pretty obvious that Ginny and Ron had gone to the burrow, leaving Hermione to try and console Harry. Thankfully, Teddy and Victory had also left, probably retiring to their flat or shell cottage. Albus really couldn't have given two shits about where they were. He had more important things on his mind.

He moved slightly through the upstairs corridor. The sound of the wireless was coming from Lily's room, along with several scratching sounds. Albus guessed that she was writing a letter to one of her friends.

The bathroom at the end of the hall was occupied by James who was singing loudly to himself in the shower. He moved past, unnoticed.

He headed for his fathers study, where Harry had no doubt simply tucked the stamps away into a draw somewhere. He entered, closed and locked the door behind him.

He started searching through the many draws in Harry's desk and quickly as he could. He didn't want to be in this house any longer than he had too. As he silently searched through the many stacks of paperwork he saw the moving picture on his desk.

It was the whole family, smiling and hugging. The day that James had been taken to Diagon Alley to get his wand. Albus felt a cold chill creep into his stomach. He turned the picture face down so that he didn't have to look at them.

As he continued to search, Harry and Hermione's voices drifted up through the floor.

"I'm sick of this!" Harry voice growled. "The great Harry Potter who can do no wrong!"

He sounded like he was on the verge of a breakdown!

"Why do you insist on blaming yourself for everything Harry?!" Hermione pleaded.

"BECAUSE IT'S MY FAULT!"

"No it isn't!"

"I told him to go!" Even from the echo, Albus could hear that Harry's voice was shaking.

"You didn't mean it like that!"

Some part of you did! Albus thought darkly. Some part of you hates that fact that I'm your son! That I'm such a freak!

"It doesn't matter! He's gone!"

"He'll come back!" Hermione tried.

"And what if he doesn't!?" There was fear in his voice. "And even if he does! What's to stop him from leaving all over again?!"

"You won't let that happen!"

"Why?! COZ I'M HARRY FUCKING POTTER?! The Chosen one?! The boy who lived?! The hero?!" Harry was in a frenzy.

Albus stopped searching to listen. He didn't realize he was causing them so much pain.

Maybe he was being too hard on his family.

"Yes!" Hermione cried.

"Look at me! I'm no hero! Heroes don't sit around and let maniacs got after their kids! Heroes don't drive their sons away! Heroes don't fuck their best friends wife!"

Everything went blank. He was sure that he misheard them! He must have!

"It's was a mistake! We both know it! I love Ron and you love Ginny! That's all that matters!" Hermione's voice cried.

He couldn't think. He didn't even know why he was there, what he was doing. He barely even knew who he was…

His chest was pounding from the strength of his heart beat. He walked, like a zombie out of the study and down the hall. He reached his bedroom door and went inside.

His knees almost gave out just has he reached his bed.

There he sat, in silence. He sat there for a long time. Long after the sounds of doors opening and closing signalled Hermione's departure. Long after the wireless died down and the bedsprings of Lily's mattress stop creaking. Long after James snoring began.

He barley moved.

For some reason the picture on Harry's desk entered his mind. He looked over to see his wand, lying pointlessly on his bedside table. He picked it up and began to study it. He remembered the day he got it. They had been through half of Ollivanders stock before finding one that responded to him.

The wand had never meant much to him but the looks of joy on his parents faces had. The same looks that were present the day he got his Hogwarts letter.

It all meant nothing now. It was a hollow sensation…realizing that your entire life is nothing. The Colossus is something but Albus Severus Potter is nothing.

Teddy had been more like a son to Harry than Albus ever had. That's why he had chosen him. Why he had told Albus to leave. He hadn't even been good enough to get onto the Quidditch team. He had only been able to cast one spell the way it should be cast. The Killing Curse.

Without the Colossus, Albus Severus Potter was nothing.

That's why she had left him. It's why his parents didn't want him. It's why he had always felt so alone.

He looked at the thin wooden stick again. It was this little instrument that made someone a wizard. Just like it was the power that made the Colossus. This was what Sophia had meant…

The package deal of being a superhero meant no attachments, no emotions, no weaknesses.

The door flashed inside his mind. Live for nothing, fight for everything.

And with that, Albus snapped his own wand. A signal to the world, that he was gone. Only the Colossus remained.

He dropped the broken pieces onto the floor and stood. He walked towards the window, opened it and jumped. He blasted himself towards the stars, away from everything he knew.

He was never coming back.


	18. Evohuman

==== EVO-HUMAN ====

==== MODA PARK - ISTANBUL - TURKEY - JULY 29TH - 2100 A.D. ====

Scorpius and Anya were walking just along the edge of the park, with the Marnmara Sea just across the street. With the sun shining brightly and the cool breeze, Scorpius had suggested that they take a walk while he continued his story. Anya had now become so completely obsessed with hearing the tale that she had blown off any offers of spending time with the rest of her family.

"How long was he gone?" Anya asked sadly.

"It was over 11 months before I saw him again. Of course one good thing about having the media chasing after him at every turn was that we always knew he was okay. It helped." Scorpius said.

"None of this stuff was in the books that I've already read," Anya remarked.

"Well of course not. They wouldn't want anyone thinking that he was a hero, now would they?" Scorpius grinned.

"So what was he doing while he was away?"

"Oh, exactly what he said he would. Being the Colossus," Scorpius said as they continued to walk past the park. "every single day…part of me hoped that Harry and the rest of the family would finally put it together, or that James would just tell them. Albus's disappearance strained them to breaking point, especially since he had actually snapped his own wand."

Anya looked slightly confused for a second.

"You have to understand, to the wizarding world, snapping your own wand is like cutting one of your own arms off. It simply doesn't happen!"

Anya was silent for a moment. "Did you miss him?" She asked.

"He was my best friend, of course I missed him," Scorpius admitted. "But you know what I miss right now?"

Ayna looked half interested, half confused.

"Pizza," He smiled. "I'm starving, how about you?"

"Oh yes!"

"Alright," He took Anya by the hand and led her across the street. "Now you can't tell Rose that I took you here. She thinks their food is too fatty!"

They entered an open restaurant called Marino's. The managers and owners had clearly done they're very best to make it look like an old Italian restaurant but the fact that there were thumb print payment modules on all the tables and holographic television screens in several places made it hard to forget how much technology had advanced. Since it was now the late afternoon, there were only a few patrons in the restaurant and most of them were focused on their meals.

"Now, why don't you get us a table while I get us some drinks." Scorpius said.

"Why don't you just get the bot to do it?" Anya asked.

"Call me old fashioned," He smiled and walked over to the counter.

Anya took a seat at a two person table by a large open window that looked out onto the bay. A few feet in front of her was a large holographic television screen that was showing the news. There was a large moving caption at the bottom of the screen.

_UN SUMMIT - NEW YORK_

An attractive 3D reporter was reading news announcements while images of a huge open hall with hundreds of representatives was show in the background.

"…and in light of recent events, security at the summit is at it's highest levels. Representatives from both the wizarding world and non-magical world will be discussing a range of topics from The controversial new Cloning laws that are beginning introduced later this year, environment responsibilities and economic change to the growing Evo-human community…"

The background image suddenly zoomed in and the underlying caption changed.

_THEIA WEASLEY - WIZARDING WORLD REPRESENTATIVE._

Although she was clearly in her late sixties, Theia still had an incredible beauty about her and looked extremely confidant.

"…we must not judge an entire species by the actions of a few. The Anomalies have shown nothing but support and understanding towards the rest of the world and we must not ignore that -"

She was cut off by a balding man in his late fifties. A small caption appeared over his head:

_FRENCH REPRESENTATIVE - JEAN DE VOLE_

"And yet, they have outright refused to assist the on going manhunt for the terrorist, known only as Max. They sitting ideally by while we suffer because they know that they will not be targeted!"

"It's against their nature to hunt their own," Theia stated firmly. "It's like asking a shark to only hunt other sharks,"

"How does this Max think that he is going to secure more civil rights for Anomalies when he openly attacks the very people that could see this done?" Jean asked in a snide voice.

"The Evo-Human community has openly condemned Max's actions and have been attempting a peaceful and diplomatic resolution to these issues but as I see that, once again, an Evo-Human representative has been denied access to this summit, how can anyone expect diplomacy to succeed?" The moment she finished talk, mummers erupted around the room.

"We did put this issue to a vote during our last meeting," A man in his mid forties with a goatee said. Again a small caption appeared above his head:

ACM [American Coreum of Magic] _REPRESENTATIVE - BRAIN MCAILE_

"Allowing a representative from the Evo-Human community was only over ruled by four votes. But nevertheless, attacking the wizarding and non-magical worlds will not get us to submit to the demands of a terrorist! It never has! And as we're on the subject, we all know the real reason that the rest of the Evo-Human community will not go against Max! They instinctively obey the most powerful of the kind and in this case, that is a terrorist! The only way things are going to change is if Max changes!" He said angrily.

"I agree with Representative Mcaile," Jean spoke up again. "The Evo-human community has been unstable at best for years now! I fear that any hope of true peace between all races may have died with Aurora!"

Suddenly calls of anger came from all around the room. Every single person was either yelling their agreement or attempting to argue against the statement.

Anya was suddenly broken out of her trance by a glass of pumpkin juice being placed in front of her. Many wizarding drinks and food had now become a delicacy in the muggle world.

Scorpius saw the look of worry of his granddaughters face. He turned to look at the holographic screen for a second then turned back.

"Don't worry my dear, Theia has taken much worse criticism than that in her time. She always stands her ground." He smiled.

"It's getting worse, isn't it?" Anya sighed.

"Yes," Scorpius sat down in front of her. "It's a shame that everything the Colossus built may now be torn down by is own kind…," He took a sip of his butterbeer. "But don't worry, we'll get to this eventually."

Anya attempted to blank the real world from her mind and was once again ready to get sucked back into the life of her Grandfather.

"Now…as you can imagine, the wizarding world was in a frenzy when they found out that Albus had run away. Having your wand snapped was seen as one of the worst punishments that a wizard could be given so a wizard snapping his own wand was simply unimaginable…,"

==== MI6 HEADQUARTERS - LONDON - UK - NOVEMBER 1ST - 2021 A.D. ====

Adjacent to Vauxhall Bridge Road sat the enormous fortress-like, wedding cake building that housed the main offices of the British Secret Service. MI6 headquarters stood out and looked out over the rest of the buildings on the Thames River.

As usual, apart from the steady stream of cars and trucks that passed by, the building seemed strangely inactive, especially for the centre of the intelligence community.

However, the seemingly normal day was altered by the massive crash of metal and glass as a truck literally fell out of the sky and onto the pavement. Cars screeched to a halt and skidded out of the way to avoid hitting it. The truck had clearly been busted up long before it was dropped onto the street.

Inside there were six men all of which were yelling and screaming in terror. Another sound of bending metal rang out as The Colossus landed on the bonnet. He looked around at the startled drivers and passengers that were staring before jumping off the bonnet and onto the street.

The men in the truck started yelling at him at the same time in a rapid foreign accent. Most of them had actually been tied to the truck in some way and were struggling with their restraints.

Sirens rang through the air as a passing police car shot up to the truck and skidded to a halt. The police officers stepped out but didn't say a word. They knew exactly who was standing in front of them.

The truck prisoners continued to yell at The Colossus.

"Shut up!" He growled.

They kept yelling.

"Shut up or I'll leave you at the bottom of the Thames!"

They shut up.

"Oh, now you understand English?" He hissed.

For out of a service entrance, several MI6 Agents, led by Wells, came running over to the truck.

Wells looked at the truck with a 'why am I not surprised' look on his face. Then he spotted the man in the passenger seat.

"Ahh, Mr. Attu," He smiled as more and more pedestrians began to gather around the scene. "wanted for the attack against the U.S. embassy in Nigeria two years ago. I'm so glad that you could join us." Mr. Attu looked like he was ready to piss himself.

Wells walked over to the Colossus. "So where did you find them?" He asked.

"Does it matter?"

"I just wanna know how accurate my intelligence is." Wells grinned.

"It was close enough. Got anything else for me?" The Colossus asked.

This was their arrangement now. As predicted, it had taken MI6 less than two weeks to realize that Wells was smuggling intelligence out of the building. After being brought in for interrogation, Wells had confessed to giving the information to the Colossus, who then promptly went and captured or destroyed whatever the targets were.

The next thing he knew, Wells was being promoted with his security clearance raised. Apparently his bosses (The Defence Minister and the Prime Minister) were very impressed with his actions, of course they never admitted that publicly.

"Not at the moment. We had a lead on Sitoshi Chen, the guy behind the Tokyo subway attack in 2016 but we lost sight of him four days ago. We're closing in, I'll let you know as soon as we have something." Wells informed him.

"Alright," The Colossus said, checking the skies. "I'll come and find you in a few days,"

"Hey, are you alright?" Wells asked causing The Colossus to stop. "You just look at bit pale is all…,"

Wells felt stupid the moment he had said it, considering that the only visible part of his face was his nose, mouth and a bit of his jaw line, the rest was concealed by shadows from his hood. He also had a ruff layer of stubble, making it even more difficult to tell the real colour of his skin.

"I'm fine." The Colossus said in a brittle voice.

"You know, the world would forgive you if you took a day off."

"No, it wouldn't." The Colossus said simply before blasting himself into the sky.

"No, it wouldn't." Wells mumbled in agreement.

==== ST. MUNGO'S - LONDON - UK - NOVEMBER 2nd - 2021 A.D. ====

Draco Power walked his way through the 3rd floor corridor of St. Mungo's on his way to his office. He had been working since lunch time and after seven straight hours, he was finally going to get the break that he'd been waiting for.

"Healer Malfoy!" Draco sighed as a medi-witch shouted whilst she ran up the corridor after him.

"Yes?"

She tried to hand him a clipboard but he refused to take it. "Err, with Mr. Cullops case…we managed to remove the tentacle but we're having a bit of trouble with the webbed feet,"

"I am on my break," Draco stated. "Leaving with Macworth or I'll deal with it later."

Draco entered his office and closed the door behind him. He walked straight over to his desk and collapsed on the chair. Around the room, dozens of files and medical notes were stacked in no particular order. Mainly because all of the filing cabinets were full and he simply hadn't had time to magically enlarge them.

He rubbed his face then opened the only draw in his desk with any space in it and pulled out a bottle of Fire Whiskey.

He was just about to start pouring himself a glass when he suddenly realized that some of his files had been opened. The one sitting in front of him was a case that he had dealt with a few months ago. It was open on the diagnosis page. Negative reaction to Hyper-Cognition. Irreparable synaptic damage - was written in large red letters at the bottom.

Someone had been looking at his files. It was at that moment that he realized, he wasn't alone.

He looked around the room while slowly going for his wand. Then he spotted the human shaped shadow in the corner.

"Albus?!" He breathed.

Al stepped out into the light. "Sorry, I didn't really want to get spotted."

"Right…," Draco was still slightly shocked. He pulled out his wand and gave it a quick flick. The blinds around the office drew them selves. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Albus said without any conviction.

"You don't look fine. In fact you look like shit," Draco stated.

"Thanks,"

Draco pulled out another glass from the desk draw and poured two glassed of Fire Whiskey. He passed one to Al and was slightly surprised when he took an enormous gulp without even cringing.

"So…where have you been?" Draco asked.

"Here and there," Al said simply before taking another gulp of Fire Whiskey.

"I guessed. Your father has turned half the wizarding world upside down looking for -"

"I don't want to be found," Al cut him off.

"I guessed that too," Draco took a sip of his own drink. "So if you don't want to be found, why are you here?"

Albus sighed and looked at his own hands. "I need to borrow some money," He admitted quietly.

"Oh," Draco leaned back on his chair. "For a second, I thought you had been stealing drugs."

"Yeah, sorry about that," He said, pointing to the open medical file. "I got a little restless while I was waiting. What's Hyper-cognition?"

"Reverse Pensieve. Instead of taking memories out of your head, you put them in. Highly illegal and highly dangerous. This poor sod obviously went to the wrong person for the procedure. Practically deep fried his own brain. He's a vegetable now." Draco explained before taking another sip of whiskey.

"Why would someone have that done?" Al asked.

"Most people use them to cheat at exams. Just upload the information directly into your head instead of learning it."

"Is that how you got through your healer training?" Albus smirked.

"Your hilarious," Draco gulped down the rest of his whiskey. "How much do you want?"

Albus followed suite, drinking down his glass. "Just what ever you can spare."

Draco searched through another draw in his desk and came out with a small coin bag. He passed it to Al. "There should be about 50 in there."

"Thanks." Al said, pocketing the money.

"Don't go spending it all at once," Draco refilled the glasses. "why did you leave Al?"

Albus sighed and took a gulp of his second glass. "Let's just say I found out that the oh so perfect Potter family, isn't all that perfect at all."

"Well, I could have told you that," Draco grinned. "that's doesn't mean you had to run away."

"I didn't run away!" Albus hissed. "I just…wanted a change of scenery…,"

"For 11 months?"

"Yes!"

"Fine…," Draco sighed. "I'm just saying, that your little disappearing act has really screwed your father up -"

"Fuck him!" Albus growled.

Draco was clearly taken back. He had seen how thrashed Harry looked, a great many times now. Harry had come to see if Albus had been admitted to the hospital more than three dozen times and there was always a look a mass relief when Draco had told him that he hadn't. He had no doubt that Harry loved his son, but Albus was obviously full to the brim with resentment. Whatever had happened between them, it was serious.

"He's had everyone looking for you…,"

"Yeah well, the next time you see him, tell him to stop wasting his time!"

"Okay," Draco said simply. "Should I tell Aurora to stop wasting her time as well?"

Albus froze at the mention of her name. "She's…,"

"Been up here almost as much as your dad? Yeah. She won't bloody leave me alone!" Draco remarked.

Al Looked at the ground. His breathing was getting heavier and he was clearly conflicted.

"Everyone has been pretty damn miserable since you left. Your Brother, my son, his…girlfriend," Draco practically cringed. He still had a hard time accepting that his son was dating a Weasley. "You should go and see them."

Albus sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I've wanted too," He admitted. "But…I've been pretty busy lately."

"Well, I imagine superhero work is quite time consuming,"

Albus froze again but this time he locked his eyes on Draco's. "Took ya long enough."

"Oh, I've had my suspicions from the start. But since my reputation still isn't exactly wonderful, I thought that waving my arms around and yelling that I know the Colossus' secret identity, might not go over so well." He smirked.

"So…I can count on you not to -"

"I can keep a secret," Draco assured. "But I'm still your doctor and it really isn't difficult to see that this life is taking it's toll on you! You look terrible! Hell, you looked better when you were dead!"

"Your a charmer," Albus quipped.

"Your exhausted!"

"I haven't been sleeping well lately," Al confessed.

"I could get you some Sleeping Draught?"

"I've been drinking that stuff like beer. It barely even makes me drowsy anymore."

"I'll find you something stronger -"

"I don't need it!" Al cut him off. "Trust me, I'm okay. Anomalies are built to last."

"Anomalies?" Draco asked.

"Can you think of any other way to classify me?" Albus asked, taking a drink.

"No, I meant Anomalies, plural," Draco said causing Albus to look at him suspiciously. "There's more like you?"

Albus stared at him for a minute. For some reason, Draco suddenly felt extremely intimidated by him. "That, is very dangerous information and you are going to forget that I ever said it!" Albus commanded.

"And why exactly is it so dangerous?" Draco dared.

Albus gulped down the last of his whiskey and stood up. "Well, let's put it this way. There is a reason that you haven't heard about my kind until now."

Albus exited the office.

==== MINISTRY OF MAGIC - LONDON - UK - NOVEMBER 2nd - 2021 A.D. ====

Draco had spent the remained of his shift at St. Mungo's thinking about Albus's final words. He had come to two conclusions. Either, the 'Anomalies' were extremely good at hiding and would even kill to stay hidden or, someone else was making sure that the world never found out about them.

Although his mind had been pretty consumed by these theories, it hadn't been enough for him to forget that he was taking his wife out for a late dinner tonight.

He strolled through the ministry atrium which was very nearly empty. Very few employees worked this late, unless that had some kind of emergency to deal with.

He was just about at the main lifts when the doors opened.

"Draco!"

He sighed. It was Harry, looking just as tired and un-groomed as his son. "Harry." He said simply, attempting to walk past him.

"Did he -"

"No!" Draco said with annoyance. It was a lie, but he had been asked that question so many times that even when the answer was different, it still pissed him off. "He wasn't checked in, I haven't seen him and I doubt I will see him, now if you don't mind -"

"Your lying." A cool female voice said from behind him.

Both Harry and Draco turned to see a stony and dangerous looking Aurora Dawn Lennox standing with her arms crossed. Both of them made no attempt to hide their surprise. On any other day, Harry would have probably tried to detain her for questioning but today, she certainly looked like she was ready to resist arrest.

"That's a matter of opinion," Draco chimed sweetly.

"That's a matter of fact." She unfolded her arms, revealing her wand in her right hand.

Draco bit his lip. "Oh, Scorpius said you were good at that."

"Why did he come and see you?" She demanded.

"Wait?! You saw him?!" Harry was already getting frantic.

"Alright! Yes! He came to St. Mungo's today. He asked me to lend him some money so I did!" Draco blurted.

"That's it?! Was he alright?!"

"As far as I could tell, he was in perfect health." He lied again. He didn't feel bad about it. More often than not, lies were much more comforting than the truth. That was proven as Harry breathed a sad sigh of relief.

"And what aren't you saying?" Although she was completely calm, there was a subtle menace in her eyes. She was not to be tangled with. "You talked."

"We had a quick chat, yes."

"About what? What did he say?" Harry asked quickly.

"He said that he didn't want to be found," As Draco spoke, he felt Aurora trying to break into his mind again. She was banging very hard against his Occulmens door but he was determined not to open up for her.

"Is that everything?" She glared.

"That's all."

"Well then you won't mind dropping your Occulmens and letting me look inside your head. Just to make sure that you haven't forgotten anything of course." Her voice was full of contempt.

"Oh, your more than welcome to look inside my head Aurora, but just to warn you, right now I'm thinking of my wife and what we will be doing later on tonight," He grinned.

"Hey! If you know something about my son, your gonna tell me right now!" Harry growled.

"I've told you everything," Draco said with a snide voice. "but, there was one other thing… Although we didn't actually speak about it, it was plainly obvious that both of you," He looked from Harry to Aurora. "were the ones that give him the most encouragement to leave."

Harry looked like someone had just stabbed him in the heart while Aurora's glare could cut glass.

"All I've ever done is help him…can you two say the same?" Draco knew he had struck a cord with both of them. He walked towards the lift, entered and disappeared behind the closing doors.

Aurora turned to leave.

"Why are you here Aurora?" Harry sighed.

"Same reason as you. I'm looking for Albus." She said simply.

"Why?"

"Same reason as you," She repeated the words with a slight sadness in her voice. "To tell him I'm sorry."

She walked towards the floo points that lined the wall and disappeared with a blast of green flames.

==== TIJUANA - MEXICO - NOVEMBER 3rd - 2021 A.D. ====

Albus was sitting at the bar of a popular drinking spot on Av Del Pacifico. The bar was surprisingly full of Americans but considering the city sat right on the boarder to the U.S. it was understandable. In fact, there was a group of about ten or twelve Americans, sitting around a large table in the centre of the bar, watching a football game on the large flat screen TV that was hung on the wall.

Albus had given up watching it after about five minutes. He got to see people getting smashed around every other day in his line of work. In fact, he was usually the one doing the smashing. He was now on his 5th beer and all he had been thinking about for the last day and a half was about what Draco had said.

Why was she looking for him? She had refused his love, chosen another man over him, abandoned him and now, suddenly she was looking for him!

"That girl really knows how to fuck with ya head!" He murmured to himself.

"You ain't kidding," A voice said from behind him.

He Didn't even need to look around to know who it was. He probably would have picked up the scent the moment he walked in, if he had been paying attention.

"How'd you find me?" Albus asked in annoyance as Lincoln took a seat next to him.

"The Cajan told me where you'd be," He said while signalling the barman. "Una cerveza por favor."

The Barman grabbed a cold beer from the fridge and Lincoln laid out some change on the table.

"And who else did he tell?"

"Relax, I didn't bring anyone with me." Lincoln said as he paid the barman.

He paused for a minute, studying Albus's appearance. His hair had gotten long again and he had clearly been neglecting his razor over the last few days. But more than that, he simply looked drained. Like he hadn't slept for a month.

"You look like shit!" Lincoln blurted.

"Still got a nice personality though." Albus mumbled before taking chugging down the last of his beer. He held up the empty bottle to signal the barman.

"You need a vacation." Lincoln said simply.

"I don't get much time off work," Albus yawned while pulling out his money.

"That's funny. I thought in your line of work that you'd be able to choose your own hours."

"The world chooses my hours."

"You make it sound like you're a slave." Lincoln remarked.

"No…I chose this…" Albus sighed. He was regretting his decision.

"Well then, you can chose to take a break from it!"

"No, I can't." Albus's face had screwed up.

"Why not?"

"Because I take a day off and people die!"

"You save a lot of people Al, but you can't save them all. Shit, if you did, we'd be dealin' with some serious over population!" Lincoln said attempting to lighten the mood.

"I can save the innocent ones." He mumbled.

"You'd be surprised at how many innocent people die without us even knowing about it. It's the way of the world. The sheer fact that you actually fly around and try and save everybody is enough for these people," Lincoln said. "or is there another reason that your so desperate to bury your head in this superhero business?"

Albus glared at Lincoln.

"Sorry kid, the whole intimidating stare thing doesn't work on other Freaks." Lincoln smiled.

"You trying to make me feel better or worse?" Albus asked moodily.

"Neither. I'm just trying to find out why your really doing this. I mean, I thought I'd find you happy as a clam, just livin' up all the self satisfaction from actually being a heroic symbol to mankind. But instead, I find you barely able to stand up, getting drunk in some Tijuanan shit hole. But…your still doin' the job. Day in and day out, like one of those miserable office workers. Those kind of people spend half their lives praying that something extraordinary will happen to them…of course, extraordinary usually comes in the form of a beautiful woman -"

"I don't wanna talk about Aurora!" Albus hissed instantly.

"Whoa, I never said anything!" Lincoln took a swig of his beer just as the group of Americans cheered a touchdown. "But…as you brought the subject up…,"

"I don't want to talk about -"

"You have any idea how worried she is?" Lincoln was taking absolutely no notice of Al's protests.

"She's got a funny way of showing it!" Albus hissed quietly.

"She just needed to get her head around everything -"

"She left Hogwarts!"

"She took a leave of absence -"

"Indefinitely!"

"Exactly! She wasn't definitely leaving for good -"

"She doesn't want me!" Albus yelled causing most of the people in the bar to momentarily take their eyes of the game and look at him.

Albus turned around to see everyone staring at him shamelessly.

"WHAT ARE YOU PRICKS LOOKING AT?!" He roared causing everyone to instantly turn back to the game and pretend that he didn't exist.

"Subtle," Lincoln smirked. "cerveza?" He said to the barman, wiggling his empty bottle in the air. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret Al…I've known that girl since before her first birthday and not me, Sophia or anyone else on this earth, has ever known exactly what that girl wants! Shit, I don't think she even knows what she wants. Or she does and she afraid. I think she's kind of like the female version of your brother. Afraid of commitment. That's why she went with that Cody guy. He was a safe bet. She cared about him, but she never loved him. If it went to shit with him, she wouldn't loose any sleep. You on the other hand…if things went to shit with you…well…she's not even sure she'd be able to carry on,"

Albus was staring hard at the beer fridge in front of his eyes. His thoughts however, were bouncing around the entire universe.

"Now she's running around the place trying to find you because she so afraid that she might have actually screw things up with the one person that she might have actually truly loved." Lincoln's voice echoed his seriousness.

Albus sat silently for a few seconds. Just staring at the many different kinds of beer that sat, chilling in the fridge.

"Well, I'll let you on a little secret Lincoln…," He turned and looked him dead in the eye. His face was full of bitterness and the feelings of betrayal. "She has!"

"Well…I'm sorry to hear that," He took a big gulp of his beer. "But then again…I also think it's bullshit."

"Really?"

"Yeah…see, I've been where you are now. And I know how much it sucks!" Lincoln pained.

"Yeah? Who broke your heart?"

"My sister," Albus looked at him with confused disgust. "Not like that, you fuckin' pervert! When she got turned…she…," Lincoln took a very large gulp of beer. This was clearly difficult for him. "When she got attacked…I blamed my self. I thought…I had all this power and I couldn't even protect my sister. And every single time she told me that it wasn't my fault…it hurt more. They went for me as well. But…I can phase shift. Biting someone that can turn Ethereal, isn't exactly easy. And while I was trying to fight off two of em'…one took a chunk out of her neck…and right after he did…she bit his arm, trying to get him to let go of her I guess…," He took another gulp of beer. "I hated my self for a very long time."

"What did you do?" Albus asked quietly.

"I realized that, if our roles had been reversed, if I had been turned…she would be doing the exact same thing. She would be blaming her self even though it wouldn't have been her fault…and your feeling the exact same way. You hate your self because even with all of your power, you think you can't be happy with the person you love the most…and you what Al?"

"What?"

"She is thinking the exact same thing!" Lincoln finished his beer and did another little signal with the empty bottle to bring the barman back over. He seemed to be getting quite annoyed that they were pulling his attention away from the game.

"Why didn't she tell me?" Albus breathed. Tears of guilt were pricking at his eyes.

"She's smart, she's powerful, she's beautiful…but she's still just a teenager Al. She's not the all seeing fuckin' eye. She gets scared and makes mistakes just like everybody else. Just because you put her on a giant golden throne in your head, doesn't mean that's where she sits."

He was right. One of the reasons her leaving had cut him so deeply was because Al had always thought of her as some kind of human goddess. He believed, on some level, that she was somehow immune to normal feelings. That she was just as different as he was. But she wasn't. And that's what she had been trying to tell him the whole time. He had an idea of Aurora Dawn Lennox that was a flattering exaggeration of what she really was. And then something struck him.

It didn't matter was she was to the rest of the world…what she was to Albus was what mattered. He had never cared that she wasn't an Anomaly but he had also created an idea of her that was way more than she actually was. But even that didn't matter now. Whatever she was, he loved her.

"Dude! What the fuck?! Change the channel back!" One of the Americans shouted.

"I did not touch channel!" The barman growled.

The voice of a news reporter echoed through the bar.

"We interrupt this regular broadcasting to bring you an exclusive report. Moment ago, there was an explosion next to the Syncrude Tailings Dam in Alberta, Canada. Now the explosion was apparently cause by a fuel truck that ignited and exploded near the main barrage. The explosion caused structural damage to the main body and we are being warned that the back up systems are failing. Syncrude Tailings is one of the largest dams in the world and at this time of year, the stress of the dam is at it's highest levels…,"

Airborne Images of the dam were being shown on the TV. A large plum of smoke was emanating from the close western edge of the dam and everywhere, people were running away.

"Fort MacKay, which is located just south of the dam has a population of roughly 1,500 people. That entire town is now threatened. If the dam does collapse, then the sheer body of water that will be released will be catastrophic and if it continues on it's downward slop, it may reach Wood Buffalo which is home to more that 55,000 people…,"

"Holy shit dude! My Grandma lives there!" One of the Americans blurted.

"She lives in Edmonton! That's like 500 miles away!" Another remarked.

"It's still Alberta!" He yelled back.

Albus turned to Lincoln. "Still want me to take a day off?" He stood up.

Lincoln grabbed his arm and tried to force him back into the seat. For the first time in his life, Albus saw fear on Lincolns face. "Okay! Stop! Forgetting the fact that you are so exhausted you can barely stand up for more that 10 minutes…there is no way in hell that you can stop 500 plus million tonnes of water, so forget it!"

"Sorry mate, duty calls." Albus said attempting to walk away.

"Albus! Your not Moses! You can't do this!" He kept his voice low but the worry was still there.

"I'm the Colossus. There's nothing I can't do." Albus growled.

He walked towards the entrance and disappeared.

"Hey! Where the hell are my sunglasses?!" One of the Americans shouted.

==== SYNCRUDE TAILINGS DAM - ALBERTA - CANADA - 3RD NOVEMBER -2021 A.D. ====

Everywhere, emergency services and police were trying to evacuate people. The national guard was on it's way but hadn't arrived yet. In the distance, echoes and moans from the heavy stress that the dam was dealing with, resounded through the air. All of the major safety systems were already active but it simply wasn't enough to relieve the pressure from the overwhelming mass of water.

Cracks had appeared around the concrete foundations of the dam and the metal was moaning and air raid alarms were sounding everywhere. People were grabbing whatever they could from their homes and loading it into cars and truck, almost as if they were looting.

On the ground, only 3 miles away from the dam, Warren Nixon, a short man in his mid 40's was attempting to do his part in helping people evacuate. He wasn't a member of the emergency services, in fact he worked for a scientific regulatory organization. But he was there, trying to help.

Suddenly a massive gust of wind hit him followed by, what sounded like the roar of a jet engine.

A black, man sized bullet shot through the air towards the dam. He wasn't wearing his raincoat, but he really didn't have time to worry about that now.

People pointed and yelled in joy! "COLOSSUS!"

From his vantage point of 600 feet up, he could see the dam beginning to buckle. It was over a hundred feet high and over 10 miles across.

Lincoln was right. There was simply no way in hell that he could stop that!

He looked around and the hundreds of scared people that were either running for their lives of watching him, waiting for the Colossus to deliver a miracle.

On the ground, Warren Nixon was yelling down his phone. "No, I don't care! Look he's here right now!"

"Get some readings!" Someone yelled back over of the phone.

Nixon ran to his truck and began frantically unpacking equipment.

Up in the air, Albus was getting desperate.

Come on! Think! Think! Think! These people are about to be crushed by a liquid shit storm and -

He had it.

Without warning, The Colossus suddenly boosted himself into a rapid spin! With every circle he increased his speed.

Nixon had pulled out, what looked like a radar gun. What the police used to catch speeders on the highways. There was a think back wire leading to a computer inside his truck and he was still yelling down the phone.

"I'm hooked up! Are you receiving?!"

"Yeah! We got it!" A voice from the phone yelled.

The win all around began to whistle and pick up.

Albus was now spinning so fast that he had simply become a round blur in the sky but even with the naked eye, people could see…he was sucking the air towards him.

Suddenly, like a shockwave, light erupted from his fists. He now looked like a giant white firework, spinning in mid air. But it didn't spot there. A massive deafening roar spit the skies and was then replaced by something that sounded like the worlds largest drill, being used at full power. The light began to take over his entire body until there was nothing more than a ball of white energy, endless spinning!

Bits of rubbish on the roads began to creep they're way towards him. Street signs rattled and begged to join the light in the sky.

"NIXON! RECALIBRATE YOUR INSTRUMENTS!" The voice from the phone said.

The noise from The Colossus was so intense, he could barely hear what was being shouted. Even the news helicopters that were circling couldn't be heard over the immense sound!

"WHY?"

"THE READINGS AREN'T MAKING ANY SENSE!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!" Nixon yelled back.

"IT SAYS HE'S APPROACHING THE SPEED OF LIGHT!"

"That's impossible!" Nixon breathed.

In utter shock, he dropped the phone and simply looked on in awe. The phone shot through the air before it even hit the floor. Street sighs were breaking from their foundations and flying away.

The Vortex appeared. Like a tornado made of light!

A few hundred yards away, Nixon saw cars being picked up and pulled through the air towards the source!

The most awesome display of power in the history if mankind was taking place right in front of his eyes!

He looked into the distance. The dam had broken! An ocean of water was blasted its way down the banks of the river, heading straight towards the Colossus!

The ball of light in the centre of the vortex was becoming blinding! As bright as the sun! Like a star on earth! Above, the clouds had actually started to be pulled down into the vortex, like a sheet of translucent grey paper!

The tidal wave of water thrashed everything in its path as it continued to head straight for the vortex.

Nixon lost his nerve and bolted!

The wave collided with the vortex and like an act of God, was twisted and pulled into the overwhelming force that had erupted!

The worlds biggest fountain in reverse! The water was being carried towards the sky!

Then rain came. A downpour. The Colossus was passing the entire mass of water into the sky and turning it to rain.

Nixon turned around and watched as half a billion tonnes of water were carried into the heavens.

The vortex suddenly collapsed. The water that had been rendered weightless, fell back to earth.

But enough of it had been filtered away to turn what was potential a tidal wave, into nothing more than a small wave. The water washed down the land and finally hit Nixon. When it did, it barley got to his knees.

The vortex finally dissipated. The air returned to normal and everything that had been pulled in, fell back to earth. And once it was finally gone, there was only a man there. Just a tiny human in the centre of all that power.

And then, the entire world breathed a collective gasp…as The Colossus began to fall out of the sky.

They watched, as did everyone around the world, viewing the events on TV as he fell and fell and fell.

Everyone had the thought in the back of their minds, that any moment he would pull up. He would shake it off, wave and then blast him self away to the next crisis that needed him.

But he didn't. He just continued to fall, like a rock.

Then the ground rumbled and the earth shook as the worlds greatest hero, impacted.

For second, time seemed to stand still, then there was movement. Everyone that had been fleeing this terrible disaster suddenly dropped their possessions and bolted towards the spot that he had fallen. As fast as their legs would carry them.

They ran to the aid of their hero.

Nixon was the closest. He was in the lead, running towards the creator that had been left. Dozens of people followed his lead. Nixon noticed several flashes of blue light in the corner of his eye but he didn't care what they were. But before he even realized, there were four people in front of him. They had come out of nowhere and had some kind of strange metal batons in their hands! Nixon speeded to catch up with them.

They approached the edge of the creator, that was easily 12 feet deep, another blue light sparked the area.

The creator was empty. The Colossus was gone.

The other people in the area slowed as they approached the creator, stopping at the edge and looking around in confusion.

Nixon pretended not to hear but he was listening closely.

"That was a port key," A Man said.

"Yeah, someone got here before we did!" A black man replied.

"One of his people?" The Man asked.

"Maybe," The Black man looked directly at Nixon for a second and gave him a heart stopping glare. "Let's go." He said.

He and the other three men walked away from the scene, leaving the world to wonder about the fate of the Colossus.


	19. The Holy Hand Grenade

==== THE HOLY HAND GRENADE ====

==== VENICE - ITALY - NOVEMBER 5TH - 2021 A.D. ====

Albus's eye's fluttered open. He immediately felt the soft breeze of cool air on his face.

The fan above him was spinning lazily, as the sounds of running water filled the air. But it was distant. Somewhere outside. He could even pick up the odd shout from passers by. They weren't speaking English but it wasn't any kind of unhappy or aggressive speech either. They were just talking.

He felt good, rested and ready for the world. Oddly enough, that was probably the best sleep he had ever had. But he hadn't forgotten how or why he had gotten such a good nap.

The hard scent of bacon and eggs being cooks shot up his nose.

Al sat up, suddenly alerted to the unfamiliar surroundings. He was panicked but composed, like a cautious animal. He immediately raised a shield, not willing to take the chance. Then he began to study where he was.

He was in a large room, lying on a very soft and comfortable red couch. Below him was a beautiful rug that looked Indian in origin. There were small wooden carvings of elephants, tigers and birds all around. They were placed on mantels and desk tops where ever they could be.

In the corner was a beautiful and no doubt, extremely expensive grand piano. A large song book was laid out on top of it. It had been used recently.

The whole room had the look and the feel of something that a philosopher or an aristocrat might own. A lover of beauty and artistic imagination had clearly decorated this place. There were endless books, filed like a library in various cases. Artifacts and trinkets from half the world away, were stored all over.

At the far end of the room was a large open doorway leading to a kitchen. He could see a large island work surface in the centre, complete with two sinks and a few items of dirty cutlery.

Then he spotted the biggest eye catching scene of the room. A portrait, that was easily 10 feet tall and 7 feet wide, dominated an entire section of the wall. It looked like something that belonged in the national art museum. Work of Michelangelo or De Vinci. The picture was of the most beautiful creature in existence.

A Phoenix.

The blazing animal had it's wings spread open and it's beak calling out some kind of song. Fire roared around it like heavy waves crashing against beach rocks.

Another smell filled his senses. The smell he knew by heart and for heart.

Aurora. His Phoenix.

Following a clutter of metal that sounded like pots, he heard a smooth soothing voice say: "Ah Shit!"

It was her! There could be no mistake.

More metal panging and a few footsteps later, he heard her approaching. He froze in a panic.

"Your Awake!" She sounded more scared than delighted.

Straight away he was overwhelmed. Her beauty was simply indescribable. It was so powerful that he could only feel it, not think it. She was truly an angel.

"I'm sorry!" She said quickly. She rushed over to him quickly, looking like a nervous wreck. "I didn't think you'd be awake so soon. I can make you something if your hungry?" Albus didn't fail to hear the beat of her heart that had increase exponentially.

Then the memories came flooding back. Her saying goodbye, His fathers indiscretions. His reasons for leaving the world behind… And no matter what had happened, not matter what he may feel, he hated her again.

She had left him. She had left him for another man and then she had left him for his ideas. Once was too much. She had abandoned him more times than he could bare.

"How are you feeling?" She asked fleetingly.

Albus looked at her for a second but then turned away. At the moment he couldn't stand to lock eyes with her . Those sapphire wolf eyes were traitorous.

"I'm fine." He coughed.

"Well, great!" she said quickly. Her voice was unusually high and desperate. "I thought you must have put up some kind of shield before you hit the ground…otherwise you would have been liquefied on impact!" She attempted to grin but it still came off looking like a bad joke.

"Where am I?" He asked coldly.

"Venice. My house. Well…it was my mothers house before…," She drifted away looking towards her own feet. Suddenly her head shot up again with bright eyes, happy for a reason to change the subject. "I saw you on the news! At the Dam I mean. That was…incredible! I started getting a port key ready the moment I saw you there! And when you started to fall…I…I just…,"

Albus looked into her eyes. His were stone while hers were afraid. She carried on, not meeting his gaze.

"I just…went. I knew the Clerics would go for you. In fact, I think I saw a few of them before I got you back here. I knew they'd try and get to you while you were vulnerable so I -"

"How long have I been here?" He interrupted harshly.

"Two days. A lot of people think your dead. They've been saying it on the news!"

"Which ways north?" Albus asked quickly causing her to go silent.

He stared a hard, crushing look into her eyes. She buckled and looked away.

"Why?" She whimpered.

"Which way?" He asked again with an even more stern tone. He was determined not to let her break him.

She looked around for a moment then gave a feeble point towards a large open set of double doors leading to a balcony.

Albus stood and headed for the balcony.

"WAIT!" She said a little more suddenly then she wanted to. "Please don't go." As much as she tried to hide it, it was obvious…she was begging.

"And why would I stay?" Albus asked coldly.

"Please," She pleaded. "I've already sent a message to Tannis. I've told him that you're here and that your alright. Everyone's been worried sick!" She breathed. "and what you did…,"

"What?" He asked with contempt.

"It's been all over the news! Some…scientist, he took readings of what you did. It's scaring people! They said…they said….," She trailed away.

"They said what?" He hissed.

"They said you could have killed everyone. They said…it was too much power…," She felt horrible having to be the one to tell him. "They said…you were trying to make a Black Hole."

"A Black Hole?"

"Yeah," She breathed while Albus just tilted his head and looked confused. "A Black Hole? The most destructive force in existence?! It's what's left over after a star goes supernova! It's so powerful that it eats galaxies! Sucks entire planets down! It's the kind of power that even God's afraid of…and they think that you can do it…,"

Albus thought for a second. He remembered Tannis telling him about them. "That wasn't my intention…," He mumbled.

"You were spinning at the speed of light! If you hadn't had stopped you would have ripped a hole in space-time! You could have destroyed the world!" She was scared.

"I was trying to save them!" He hissed.

"And you did! But now they are getting scared! Now their worried about what you could do if you got angry!" She told in sorrow.

Albus rubbed his head in frustration. "I won't use that kind of power again." He stated.

"I know you never wanted to hurt anyone! And if you hadn't done it, thousands would have died! But they are starting to think that this is too much power for one man to have!" He could see water appearing in the rims of her eye lids. "Albus…they love you…but your starting to scare them. There's nothing you can't do! Some people are worried while others are calling you God! An Angel! They just…don't know what to think…,"

Albus growled and headed towards the balcony. "I have to fix this!"

"NO!" She rushed in front of him. "Albus, the only defence you have at the moment is that a lot of people think that you're dead! They think that stopping the water was your last act and now they are mourning you! If you turn up now, unscathed, then they are going to know just how powerful you are and they are going to get truly frightened! They will treat you as a God! Not a hero! Is that what you want?!"

"NO!" Albus yelled. "But I can't…I can't just let this happen!"

"Stay! Stay here…please!"

"Why?!" He growled. "You didn't want to stay with me!"

Aurora looked like she had been shot in the heart. She moved backwards, unable to speak.

"Albus…," A whimper escaped her mouth.

"WHAT?" He roared!

"I…,"

"You what Aurora?! You what?! You can't be with me?! You don't want me?! Is that what your going to tell me again!?" He was in a frenzy. His anger towards her leaving him had overridden everything. "You are the only woman I have ever wanted! I couldn't imagine being with another woman unless she was your exact copy of you! I tried to give you everything! And you wouldn't have it! You took another man right in front of my eyes!" Tears had now appeared in Albus's eyes as well. "YOU WALKED AWAY FROM ME WHEN I BEGGED YOU TO STAY!"

Aurora burst into floods of tears and sobs right in front of him.

"WHY SHOULD I STAY?! WHEN YOU WOULDN'T STAY FOR ME?!"

"I'm sorry!" She cried. "I'm sorry! I wanted to stay…I…I was afraid!"

"Afraid of what?!" He demanded

"THAT I MIGHT BE IN LOVE WITH YOU!" She screamed.

It hit Albus like a missile. He was actually forced backwards.

"I was sacred because if I let myself love you, I knew you would leave me!" Tears were now running full force down her face.

The world went silent as if it, like a hungry audience, was waiting to see what happened.

"I'd never leave you…," Albus breathed. "I'd never leave you!"

Aurora couldn't speak. She could only cry.

"Do you love me?" He dared to ask.

She couldn't look at him. He just continued to cry. Her head jolted, as if she wanted to look him in the eye, but couldn't.

He had his answer. He moved towards the balcony.

"PLEASE!" She cried. "Don't go…,"

Albus had stopped at the door, his hand on the balcony railing. All he had to do was push away from the ground and leave. He could visit the leaders of the world, explain his actions in Canada. He could talk to the press directly for the first time. He could convince them that everything he did, he did to save them. He could make the Colossus infallible again. But he would have to leave her behind.

Then Aurora finally spoke. "I love you."

It was like being struck by the first blast of a new waterfall. The sheer overwhelming weight and beauty of it was enough to destroy a man. Like setting foot on another planet and feeling like it was home. Even though there were hundreds of thousands of other planets in the universe, none of them could ever be this one. None of them could ever feel like home.

He was home.

Everything second of their relationship, both good and bad flashed through his mind and in one quick, fluid movement, he turned, embraced and kissed her.

It was his first kiss, an eternal kiss. He didn't know whether he was doing it right or wrong but it didn't matter. Everything was electric. His lips and hers, his tongue and hers, his world and hers were together at last. That was all that mattered.

The broke apart. Her eyes were still red and soaked from the tears but she had never looked more beautiful. Her face was tilted upwards, almost begging for another union.

"Say it again," He breathed. He had to know that it wasn't a dream.

"I love you." She said, looking into his eyes, not flinching.

Albus simply stared and admired her entire existence for a moment. Then a strange thought popped into his head.

"Happy Birthday Aurora. I love you." He declared.

He pressed his lips to hers again.

==== HOGWARTS - SCOTLAND - UK - NOVEMBER 5th - 2021 A.D. ====

Scorpius was sitting in a half comatose state, listening to Professor Binns speak endlessly about the many wonders of Rowena Ravenclaw and her part in helping to create the Sorting Hat. He looked up at the clock to see that he still had over 40 minutes of this torture left.

He looked to his right to see Rose, lazily scribbling a few notes on a piece of parchment. She looked up at him and smiled.

Scorpius silently pretended to cut his own wrists with an invisible blade, then flop over dead. Rose did her best to suppress the small smirk on her face.

When Scorpius looked forwards again, then was a small white piece of parchment sitting on his desk. It wasn't his. He looked around to see if anyone had passed him anything while he wasn't looking but everyone else seemed just as zombiefied as he was.

He opened the note.

She got him. He's alright.

Tannis.

A massive grin followed by an adrenaline rush of excitement washed over him. He quickly passed the note to Rose.

He watched as she sighed in relief. She looked up and smiled. He could see that he eyes were welling up from happiness.

Scorpius reached his arm across so that he could hold her hand.

==== VENICE - ITALY - NOVEMBER 5TH - 2021 A.D. ====

Albus was slammed against the kitchen fridge! She really was very strong! He didn't even have time to say 'Ouch' because she had thrown her lips against his again.

He grabbed her by the thighs and lifted her up onto the island work surface. She pulled him into her, pushing his body against her. He could feel her breast press against his chest as they continued to kiss fiercely.

She broke apart from him but only for a split second. Just enough tip for her to pull her top off, exposing a dark red bra underneath. He spotted for the first time, a long slash like scar the moved across her left rib cage. She also had a burn on her right shoulder. She had been in more than one fight it her time.

She pulled him back in for another kiss.

Aurora was in complete control and Albus wasn't going to argue. He had no idea what he was doing but she seemed to. He was being overwhelmed by everything about her. Her body, her skin, her touch and her kiss were even more incredible than he ever imagined. Her hands moved down and began pulling at his belt.

Panic struck Albus.

"Aurora," He panted. "I've…I've never done this before,"

"Neither have I!" She moved towards his lips again begging for more but Albus backed away slightly.

"So…you and Cody never…,"

"I was holding out for someone else." She smiled ravenously.

She suddenly dragged him back towards her, kissing him hard. She ripped his belt off then went for his zipper.

Al's arm involuntarily twitched, knocking plates onto the floor where they smashed.

"I'm sorry," Albus mumbled while still trying to kiss her.

"Shut up, Albus!" She laughed and kissed him again.

The sound of tearing cloth and buttons flying everywhere was heard as she literally ripped his shirt off. She began kissing and biting his chest, breathing heavily.

Aurora suddenly stopped kissing him. She was staring at his shoulder. She slowly turned him around.

Across Albus's entire back was a massive tattoo of a Phoenix with it's wings spread. The tips of the feathers on it's wings, followed down the backs of his arms, ending just before his elbows.

"When did you get this?" She breathed.

"About 2 months ago…I was a little drunk," He admitted.

"It's a Phoenix,"

"Yeah…you weren't around…so I got this one…," He smiled.

Aurora lent in and started planting kisses all over his shoulder, then began to move up to his neck.

"Where's your bedroom?" Albus asked, slowly being hypnotized by her touch.

"Not close enough!" She breathed again pressing her lips against his.

The tattoo had somehow overridden Aurora's senses and she was now acting like a hungry animal. She wasn't taking no for an answer! Al's boxers went the same way as his shirt.

She pulled off her own trousers allowing her wand to fall out of her back pocket and onto the floor. Her underwear followed. Again she pulled Albus into her while wrapping her legs around his waist. He could feel the wetness between her legs as she panted loudly.

Albus pushed himself into her more forcefully causing her to groan with desire. She dug her nails into his back as he felt him self move inside her.

==== MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY - USA - NOVEMBER 6th - 2021 A.D. ====

Warren Nixon and several colleges were still sifting through the data that had been gathered from the Dam Incident. Their were several computers running tests, building results and analysing every aspect of what had happened. On the wall was a large television screen that was playing video footage of the Vortex from several different angels. The footage was on a loop, showing it over and over again.

The information was simply unbelievable. The entire event had mimicked, almost exactly, the same readings that they got from studying Black Holes in the far reaches of the galaxy.

The sheer pull of gravity had been so strong that every instrument they had was peaked off scale.

And yet, after the incident, there was no radiation or left over sigh that he had even been there. Everything had simply returned to normal the moment it was over.

A young woman walked over to Nixon and tapped him on the shoulder. "There are some gentlemen here to see you," She sounded a little worried.

"Who are they?" Nixon asked.

"They're from the British government," She said as three men in black suites walked towards Nixon.

"Professor Nixon. I'm Agent Wells, MI6. I'd like to talk to you about the information you recorded at Syncrude Tailings Dam." Wells said showing Nixon his I.D.

Nixon looked confused and slightly insulted. "I'm sorry, do you gentlemen have a warrant to be here?"

"No, we have this," Wells said as a second Agent handed him a piece of paper. "In the interest of International co-operation, we have been given full jurisdiction in this matter. It's been sighed by the district attorney."

Nixon quickly looked over the paper before turning back to Wells.

"Alright, what's this about?"

"You made a very interesting and somewhat inaccurate statement a few days ago. You said that The Colossus had tried to kill us all." Wells said adding a layer of intimidation to be sure.

"I didn't say he was trying to kill us! I said he could have! The polarity of the gravitational forces were so immense that it would have eventually resulted in a space-time tear which would have resulted in an Event Horizon and a Black Hole!" Nixon argued quickly.

"Professor Nixon, have you ever stood next to a Black Hole?"

"Of Course not! No one can stand next to one, it would kill them!"

"And yet here you are, alive and well."

"He didn't actually create one! But he could have!" Nixon was clearly getting frustrated.

"Just so I know that we are on the same page," Wells smiled. "You believe that the most powerful being to ever walk the earth, a man that spends his every waking moment flying around the world, rescuing people from certain death and fighting some of the most vile, evil and terrible human beings on this planet, just attempted to create the most destructive force in existence and kill us all?" Wells watched as Nixon's face dropped and went pale. "More importantly…do you think that he is going to appreciate that kind of slander?"

Nixon might have just soiled himself right then. He had indeed made a statement that the Colossus may have just endangered the lives of everyone on the planet. Even after he had just saved his life.

"So…h-he's defiantly…still alive?" Nixon stuttered in fear.

"Do you honestly think that man can actually be killed? We picked him up on satellite yesterday. He's taking some time off but he will be coming back." Wells lied perfectly.

"Oh…," Nixon mumbled.

"I think it's in your best interests if you change your statement Professor. Or he might change it for you." Wells grinned.

"W-well…there…there really isn't conclusive data on these matters anyway…," Nixon was panicking. "I mean…we've never been able to study a Black Hole completely so there is really no telling whether…I'll l-look over the results again. They could be inaccurate…,"

"That's what we thought. Good day Professor." Wells said quickly before turning and leaving.

==== VENICE - ITALY - NOVEMBER 6TH - 2021 A.D. ====

The fact that he couldn't feel her warm skin anymore was what woke him. He quickly looked up with squinted eyes to see her side of the bed was empty. Then the noise of running water filled his ears. She was in the shower.

Part of him wished that they had actually made the effort to get to the bedroom before giving into temptation in the kitchen, and not just because they had missed out on the wonderful comfort of the double bed. There was always collateral damage when that kind of passion was involved. He expected that the plates, the toaster and even the dent in the fridge would still be there at the moment.

After a few minutes of enjoying the bed, he shifted around, got up and headed towards the bathroom. There would be no need for clothes.

He opened the door to see her in all her glory. She was slowly rubbing her fingers through her hair while the water bounce off her skin. For a second he just stared at her through the fogged up glass. He wanted to get up onto the roof and yelled at the top of his lungs that he had lost his virginity to the greatest woman on earth.

He wanted the world to know how much he loved her.

He opened the door and walked inside the large open shower. He rapped his arms around her and began kissing her on the neck.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" She smiled moving her head aside for him to kiss.

"No." He continued to kiss. "This is a nice shower."

She laughed. "I haven't even shown you the rest of my house yet,"

"I liked the kitchen," He said before biting softly on her neck. She moaned and leaned into him.

Albus began to move his hand down her stomach towards her inner thigh. She grabbed his hand just as he reached her crotch.

"Erm, babe, I'm a little soar." She admitted.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean too -" Albus worried quickly.

"It's okay. It always hurts the first time." She said moving around to kiss him on the lips.

"Okay…," He kissed her back. "how about I make you breakfast?"

"You cook?" She asked with mock surprise.

"I…can make toast," He grinned.

"We broke the toaster," She laughed, kissing him again.

"How about coffee then?"

"Sure," She laughed.

Albus turned to leave but she grabbed his hand to stop him. "Where do you think your going?"

"To make coffee…," He said slightly perplexed. She pulled him back towards her. "I said I was soar…I didn't say no," She smiled seductively.

About an hour later, once they were in danger of becoming human prunes from the water, Albus wrapped a dressing robe around himself and went to make good on his promise to make her coffee. But after a good 10 minutes, Albus still hadn't worked out how to use the odd looking coffee machine in her kitchen.

The large silvery metal cylinder was mocking him, still sitting on the side, not doing a thing.

"Aurora!" Albus called. "How the hell does this thing work?"

Aurora walked over, fully dressed with wet hair.

"NO!" She yelled. "That's not the coffee machine!"

"Well, what it is?"

"It's a bomb." She said quickly checking it over.

Albus took a few steps back. "What the hell is a bomb doing in your kitchen?!"

"I was cleaning it," She said absently. She saw the he had stepped backwards. "It's alright. Even if it explodes it won't hurt you."

"That doesn't sound much like bomb!"

"It's a soul fire bomb." She said.

Albus's eyebrows furled. Aurora saw him and smiled.

"Right…," She wondered over to the real coffee machine and switched it on. "Well, it is illegal so I'm not really all that surprised that you haven't heard of it. It's pretty rare as well."

"Soul fire…it sounds like a rock band." Albus grinned.

"Soul fire is what a Patronus is made of. Think of it like the smoke that comes from a flame. Your soul is the flame, the smoke is just the essence that it gives off. That," She pointed at the bomb. "is full of the real heat."

"Oh,"

"A Patronus will drive a dementor back. That bomb will turn them into ash. My dad built it. He called it 'The Holy Hand Grenade'. He was a fugitive…," Her voice became slightly brittle. "he needed to be able to fend off just about anything."

A little green light clicked on the front of the real coffee machine. She poured out 2 cups.

"I'm sorry…," Albus sighed.

"For what?" She smiled.

"For yesterday. You saved my life again and all I did was yell at you…again," Albus tried to smile but he felt genuinely guilty.

Aurora walked over and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You made up for it last night…and this morning," She kissed him.

"How about, I take you out to dinner?" Albus asked.

"Well, that sounds lovely…do you have any money?" She giggled.

"I've got about…10 pounds left…," Albus laughed.

"I've got a better idea," She smiled. "how about, I take you, out for dinner?"

Both Albus and Aurora looked around at the busted up kitchen. They laughed at the same time. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

She could have fixed it with a few waves of her wand but they both liked the idea of a romantic dinner for two so much that she decided to leave it on mire principle.

"But tomorrow! Your going to see Scorpius and Rose and everyone!" She demanded. "They've been going crazy, especially after what was on the news!"

"I thought you sent Tannis a message?"

"I did! Doesn't mean they don't still miss you!" She pouted.

"Well then, I'll go and see them…," He kissed her again. "In a few days…I want you all to my self for a while." He smiled.

"I suppose a few days wouldn't be so bad," She planted quick kisses on his lips while smiling. "but what about the Colossus? Aren't you going to be tempted to fly off and save the world?"

"Well, like. You. Said. They. Think. I'm. Dead." He punctuated each word with a kiss. "I'll let them sweat for a while. They think I'm dangerous, I'll leave them alone for a bit, they'll miss me and then when I come back, they'll be happy to see me."

"Devious. Maybe you should have been in Slytherin after all."

"The hat said I didn't belong anywhere," Al admitted.

"Then it was wrong. You belong with me!" She smiled.

They kissed again, this time slower and more passionate. This was what was going to occupy their day. Just them, together and they would love every single second of it.


	20. Full Circle

=== FULL CIRCLE ====

==== MINISTRY OF MAGIC – LONDON – UK – NOVEMBER 6TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Hermione, Ron and Harry were sitting around her desk, looking over a few papers. Her office was enormous, more than she ever thought that she needed. The book shelves that lined the room were filled with the history of the job. The actions of every single minister that had come before her could be summoned with a simple flick of a wand. Their were several portraits around the room as well. The newest of which was of none other than Albus Dumbledore. She had made sure that a copy of his portrait was close by at all times.

No matter how sure of her self she was, when it came to her decisions, she always valued his advice.

"Harry," She asked quietly. His face was still pale and unshaven. He looked like he hadn't slept in 2 weeks. "are you going to be attending the International Wizarding convention? You know it would mean a lot to people if you did -"

"No." He said before she could finish.

"Harry," She sighed. "they'll be expecting you."

"I have more important stuff to deal with than fannying around in Paris!" He growled. "I have to find me son!"

"Harry...," She tried but was interrupted by a knock at her door.

A young and very shy looking secretary poked her head through the entrance. "I'm sorry madam Weasley but Mr. Potter asked to be informed of any -"

"That's fine Margret, what's up?" Harry said quickly.

"An affiliate in the Italian Ministry called. He thinks he spotted your son in Venice." She explained.

"Thank you." Harry said getting out of his seat. Margret the secretary disappeared back through the door.

"Harry, it doesn't mean -"Ron started.

"Doesn't mean what?!"

"Harry, since you put up the reward money, we've had over 10,000 people say that they've seen your son and not one of them has been reliable!"Hermione reasoned. "I told you it was a bad idea!"

"So, I should just ignore it?!"

"Harry...you're one of the best Auror's this country has ever seen! If anyone can find him, it's you! But you need to keep your head about you. Your not thinking straight at the moment and that's why this has gone on so long!" She pleaded.

"She's right mate," Ron said, taking hold of Hermione's hand. "and besides, Al isn't exactly helpless...,"

The moment he had said it, Hermione looked at him with shock. There was no way that he could share her suspicions. Ron wasn't nearly as stupid as people often took him for but no one else seemed to have connected the dots yet and she hadn't had the heart to tell them what she thought.

Ron continued. "I mean, he took one of the nastiest curses in the world for 6 months straight. He took out Lithgo, he died and came back to life! Albus is one tough kid! Well, I mean, he's not exactly a kid any more, but my point is...Al can take care of himself. And if he went to see the ferret a few days ago, you know he's okay! Your heads all mixed up. It's understandable, but your not going to get away without thinking straight."

Harry felt a mix between rage and frustration. They were right. He had been jumping at every single possible clue to his sons current location, even if, in the back of his mind, he knew it was going to lead nowhere.

He had forgotten what it was like, but he had now been given an 11 month wake up call. He now knew that even the great Harry Potter could be powerless.

==== VENICE – ITALY – NOVEMBER 6TH – 2021 A.D ====

Amelia Sighed.

"Will you stop complaining!" Lincoln huffed.

"It's making me nauseous!" She whined.

"Just because you don't believe in love, doesn't mean that everyone else feels the same way!"

They had been sitting on the roof of a large bus station for the last 30 minutes. Across the street was the river side restaurant that Aurora and Albus were laughing and chatting together. Their assignment had been to keep and eye on them, something that Amelia had always hated doing.

"You do realize that they are children! They don't even know what love is!" Amelia snarled.

"They know they love each other. What else do you need to understand?"

Amelia looked her brother in the eye. "He's an Anomaly, she isn't! You know this will turn bad!"

Lincoln's eyes narrowed. "If I didn't know better, I say that you want them to fall apart," He hissed.

Amelia's eyes burned. "Fuck you!" She stormed away.

"All right, wait! I'm sorry, I didn't mean that," Lincoln crumbled instantly. He walked over and hugged her.

Amelia, clearly still angry, looked like a child throwing a tantrum.

"It's not as if it hasn't been hard for them already," Lincoln said softly. "and besides, I think we all agree that Albus, isn't your average Anomaly."

Amelia sighed. "I just don't want to see her get hurt,"

"I don't think that boy is capable of hurting her!" Lincoln laughed.

Amelia looked back at the restaurant to see Albus and Aurora still making lovey dovey looks at each other.

"Fine," She muttered. "but can we at least go to the bar across the street? Having a beer would make this a lot easier!"

"Sure," Lincoln smiled.

They left through a maintenance door.

Across the street in the busy and very romantic restaurant, Albus and Aurora were still having the time of their lives. The place was not just expensive but also looked like the kind of restaurant that a man would take his girlfriend in order to propose to her. All the tables were candle lit, there was very quiet sensual music playing from somewhere and the sound of the river churning next to it. Even though Al felt very out of place, he was nevertheless loving every second that he was spending with his girl.

Albus had also be half heartedly trying to avoid any news of his previous life but Aurora seemed determined to keep bringing it up. Like she was trying to tempt him back.

"I saw Lynx about 3 weeks ago. She's okay. Still kicking arse on the Quidditch team!" Aurora laughed.

"What about Vi?"

"Still being the goody goody prefect!" Aurora giggled.

"Well I'm just glad that they didn't make my brother Head Boy!" Al laughed.

"Good god! What kind of reign of terror would that have been! You should have seen his face when the Eleanor Zabini thing got out!"

"I wish I had! How'd the family take it?"

"They were all pretty shocked to say the least. Your mum sent him a Howler about practising safe sex! It exploded right in the middle of breakfast apparently!" She laughed.

"Ahhh! How could I have missed that!?"

"Scorpius and Rose are taking their OWL's this year. No offense but the added stress of watching you friegn death on the TV isn't going to help them much -"

"They know I'm all right!"

"Al, she is the daughter of the Minister for Magic and he is offspring of an ex-death eater, both of which are doing their best to keep it a secret that they know who the Colossus is! With exams, their relationship and their families, it's not the easiest life to lead!" She watched Albus sigh in shame. "They felt a lot safer when you were around."

Albus again, tried to dodge the subject. "So how is my...Aunt doing in her new job?" He still wasn't comfortable admitting the family connection. Even though she wasn't an actual blood relative, she was nevertheless his brothers Godmother and his Aunt by marriage. It's one of the only reasons he couldn't drop her off in the middle of Antarctica.

"She does seem to be doing a very good job," Aurora smiled. "I know that's not what you want to hear, but I have to be honest with you. She's making more of an Impact than Kingsley did!"

"That woman works more than I do," Albus mummered.

Aurora wore a slightly sympathetic look on her face. "She worried about you as well. In some strange way, I think she's actually trying to help you. She doing her best to steer public interest away from you. She's trying to get the wizarding world to ignore you, rather than hate you."

"Oh because that's so much better!" Albus smirked.

"Well it's not like you weren't ignoring them! You were rushing around saving everyone but wizards!" Aurora laughed.

"No I wasn't!" Albus faked his shock at the statement.

"Well, not if you count leaving wizards and witches on top of national monuments and throwing vehicles at them!"

"It's the thought that counts." Al smiled causing Aurora to laugh.

As she refilled their glasses with wine, the smile on her face disappeared. "Al...," Her tone had switched from giddy to nervous. "I need to tell you something...," She looked him in the eye.

"You knew, didn't you." Al stated before she could speak.

She seemed surprised but tried not to look away. "I should have told you," She sighed.

"No. I'm glad you didn't! In fact, I wish you had been there to Oblivate me the moment I found out!" Albus smiled, allowing Aurora to relax. "I was much happy not knowing."

He reached his hand across the table and held hers. He would have leaned over the table and kissed her but that would have resulted in his chin being burned by the candle.

Less than 10 minutes later, their main courses had arrived. Albus had been surprised when she order it, but now that it was here he was barely able to believe it. She had ordered a 18oz Sirloin Steak! Aurora, like many of the Weasley family, could eat endlessly and never get fat.

Compared to her meal, Al's chicken pasta salad seemed a little pathetic. He had felt quiet embarrassed when the waiter had given him the steak, automatically assuming that because he was the man, he would be eating the huge slab of meat.

After a few minutes of tucking into their foot, Albus finally managed to raise a question that had been on his mind for a while.

"Aurora," She looked up from her food. "you were named after a Phoenix, right?"

She nodded.

"How did that happen. Do you own a Phoenix?" He asked.

"No," She finished chewing. "my dad saw one onces and...it's sort of a long story," She said quickly, taking a sip of wine.

"I'm all ears!"

"Alright. My dad and his over-protective hero complex had left my mother and ran away. He was trying to draw everyone away from her. He even went so far as to go into hiding in Alaska, but they still caught up with him." It was clear that she was used to repeating her fathers exploits to anyone. "My dad was tough but six one one is pretty damn hard! During the battle, he took a bullet to the stomach. He manage to get away but was still pretty screwed! Being six miles from the nearest town in freezing temperatures with a bullet hole in your gut is pretty much the end of the line. He finally collapsed against this big mound of snow, just waiting...to die. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, this huge, beautiful red and gold bird was standing next to him." Aurora had the thousand yard stare on her face. She was trying to envision what it must have been like for him. "it just looked at him for a second...then, it cried on his wound. The bullet came out and the wound healed up. Then it just flew away. And as he watched it...the solstice began. They call the solstice, Aurora Borealis. Named after Boreas, the Greek name for wind and Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn."

As she spoke, Albus was simply consumed by her. Every part of her was overwhelming.

"He decided that he had been an idiot and that no matter what happened, he wanted to be around the woman he loved. A day later he was in Texas, back with Rachael and that night...I was conceived. He named me after the Phoenix that had saved his life. He used to say that I was part Phoenix, that it lived inside me...," She looked up at Albus. "I think I missed out on the super strength and the healing tears though." She smiled causing Albus to laugh.

"Named after an element and a goddess. I think your old man was on to something." Albus blew out the candle, leaned over and kissed her.

"Jealous?" She smirked.

"Of course I am! Albus Severus Potter?! You add 'ide' to the end of it and it sounds like a pharmaceutical drug!"

Aurora burst into laughter. "It must be an antidepressant! 24 tablets of Albusseveruspotteride!"

"Careful, you might OD," Al winked.

"Let's hope so." She smiled back.

As their laughter began to die down, Albus started thinking about the people he hadn't seen for so long. He remembered being tempted, especially early on, to simply go and see them. Maybe not talk to them but just see them. Alive and well, going on with their lives without him. But he never did. He couldn't stand the idea that he might arrive and then be rejected again. He'd chosen to simply go on with the memories of their times together.

But as the weeks had turned into months, he had been finding in harder and harder to hold onto those memories. It always gave way to the kind of heart ache that the Colossus couldn't afford to feel. He had to be immune to all forms of pain.

Once again Aurora, even thought she wasn't holding her wand, seemed to be able to read his mind. "Everyone misses you. Your family, your friends...even Lynx!"

"I miss them...," Albus was trying so hard not to show emotion. It had become habit now but it was next to impossible to do around her. "I miss my dad. But every time I think about it, I can't forget what he did."

"I think that everyone agrees that what ever happened between them was a mistake. He's never stopped and will never stop loving you Albus. None of them will. Neither will I."

She held out his hand for him. He took it without hesitation.

"Without you, I'd be dead." He said.

"It's my job to protect you," She smiled.

"No...I mean...I'd be dead inside," Tears were pricking at his eyes. "you always find a way to save me. Just by being you...you saved me...It's always been you Aurora, always."

"I'm sorry it took me so long to realize," All the love in the world was flowing within her words.

"Better late than never." Al smiled.

A hour later, they had finished their meal and drinks. Aurora had paid, which again, made Al feel very guilty. They had decided to take a longer route back to her house, walking along the many canals that weaved throughout Venice.

For the first time, they were able to be completely honest with each other. They could ask any question and receive an honest answer, no matter how hard or embarrassing the answer may be. They were getting to know each other for the first time ever.

"Okay...," Aurora said, trying to think up an embarrassing question. "not including me, the first time you ever saw a woman naked?"

"No! Ask a different one! No! I'm not answering that!" Al squirmed.

"No! Tell me!" She demanded.

"...Victorie!" Al admitted.

"Your cousin?!"

"I was 12! I was hiding from my brother and she had just got out of the shower! It was horrible! Please don't remind me!"

"Okay, next question," A devious smirk creped onto her face. "did she have a better body than me?" Aurora burst into laughter the moment she had said it!

"What?! You can't ask me that! She my cousin!"

"Oh, right! Because it's sooo unheard of in the wizarding world!"

"These questions are just...wrong!"

"What? She's part Veela, I just want to know how I measure up?" Aurora was unable to keep the grin off her face.

"Of course you! How could I ever find her attractive?!"

"Well...it's not beyond the realms of poss -"

"My turn!" Albus cut her off.

"No!"

"Yes! You've had your 3 questions, now it's my turn!" Al stated.

"Fine! Ask."

They continued walking along the canal as a few ferry boats moved past. None of the drivers were signing romantic Ballards though.

"Okay...," Al tried to think up something good. "In the headmasters office, just after I told you to put the cloak on -"

"Yes!" She cut him off. "Yes! I kissed you! You happy now?!"

"You did?"

"Yes! I did! I...I thought it was really gallant the way you stood up for me and were trying to protect me and I just...I kissed you!"

"I knew it!" Albus laughed.

"Don't go getting all egotistical on me again! Next question?"

"Okay...have you ever thought about Lynx in the same way shes thought about you?" Al grinned.

Aurora whacked him on the arm playfully. "Ahh! Your such a man! What? One pair of tits not enough for you?!" She said grabbed her own breasts.

"Answer the question!" Albus giggled.

Aurora flushed bright red.

"You have!" Albus pointed at her in shock. "You thought about getting on with Lynx!"

"I...once! I thought about...I just...," She was being thrown off by the huge smirk on Al's face. "Yes! I just wondered what it would be like! That's all!"

"So you never kissed her?"

"No!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Okay," Albus was still smirking. "final question."

"You've already had about 6!"

"5, but this is a good question."

"Alright."

"Do you love me?" He smiled.

"You already know the answer to that." She grinned and he pulled her in front of him.

"Answer the question!"

"More than anything," She cooed softly before kissing him.

"I'll never get tired of hearing that," He smiled.

"Look who's all grown up!" A voice cut through their romantic moment.

Aurora's face turned stony as she broke away from Albus and looked over her shoulder. A short gruff looking man with an ugly scar on his cheek was walking towards them, followed by a tall lanky man with a shaved head.

"I aven't seen you since you was this big!" The short man held up his hand to his chest like a measurement.

"Aren't you suppose to be in prison?" Aurora hissed.

"Out early." He said.

"Can't have been for good behavior!" She growled back.

"Your right there!"

"What do you want Gregor?" She spat.

"I want what's owed. See before we went inside, your old man owed us a lot of money!"

"If you were stupid enough to give it to him then that's your problem!"

"Nah, that's your problem now!" Gregor growled.

"You heard what she said. Fuck off!" Albus said coldly.

For a second, Gregor simply looked between him and Aurora with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Well, well, you got ya self a boyfriend have ya, Aurora?" He grunted.

"Al dont! I can handle this!" She whispered quietly.

"Either your old man pays...or you and ya boyfriend pay!" Gregor grinned, showing his blackened teeth.

"You want money, go around the corner, down the street, and take a left. I hear there's a place down there where you two could give blow jobs for 5 euros a pop!" She snarled.

Suddenly Gregor smashed her around the face with a back hand! "You always were a mouthy cow!" He went for her again but his arm was grabbed.

Gregor yelled in pain as Albus forced him downward, using gravity to push pressure onto his muscles. "You really should have done that!" He grinned sadistically.

Suddenly he landed a sledge hammer punch into his chest, sending Gregor soaring through the air and slamming down into the hard cobble street.

The tall man went for the gun that was tucked into his trousers but before he could grab the handle, Albus had send a white bolt of gravitation energy into him. The tall man was blasted backwards straight into a wall, where he slumped down, out cold.

"ALBUS!" Aurora yelled. "I told you not to!"

"He hit you!"

"You think I've never been hit before?!" She pulled her wand and ran over to the tall man. "You just showed them your ability!"

"What are you doing?!"

"Wiping their memories!"

"Let's just leave!" Al said as Aurora muttered an enchantment that caused a slight glow to appear around the tall man's head.

"Wait there and don't do anything!" She yelled.

"Aurora!"

"Just wait there! I'll be back in a minute!" She was worried.

She began running over to Gregor to do the same memory charm.

Albus sighed and pulled out his cigarettes. He couldn't believe that their perfect night had just been ruined by two scum bags that were looking for money! Just as he was about to light up his smoke, something caught his eye.

The old red car. Next to it, the shop.

He spun around. The river. He looked up. The street lamp.

This was it! This was the place! Panicked gripped his entire body!

"AURORA!"

As he finished the last letter of her name, something sharp and burning hot hit him in the back! He was blasted forwards as if being hit by a truck. He convulsed uncontrollably as electric shocks pulsed through his body. It felt like a giant fist was squeezing his insides.

He convulsed violently as thousands of volts poured through his veins. The shocked stopped for a heartbeat and he was able roll over, just in time to see the gun pointed at him.

Instinctively he raised a shield but nothing happened. His powers weren't answering.

The shots rang out and bullets glided through the air. Pain took over. He felt the scorching hot lead rip through his flesh and into his stomach. Blood poured from the twin holes in his belly as the electrocution stopped.

The gun man raised the weapon, looking for a head shot.

"AVADA KEDAVARA!" Her scream was terrifying! The bright green light enveloped one of the attackers, blasting him into the gunman that was about to end Albus.

Aurora came bolting in, her wand moving and spells flying. The six or maybe seven other men that were still alive took cover or dodged her curses.

A man, with a long metal baton in his hand stepped out and began dueling with Aurora. Then another from behind her, but she seemed to be expecting it. She dueled them both at once, fire everything she had at them.

Albus summoned all of his strength and managed to pull the tiny metal electrodes from is back. They were tied to wires that lead to one of the metal batons that were being used by the attacks. His world still dizzy and out of joint, Albus attempted to pick himself up but the pain in his stomach shattered his strength instantly and brought him back to his knees. His vision was burred, almost like drunkenness.

He tried again. He had to help her.

Aurora managed to land a spell into the right arm of one of the men, then rolled sideways and twisted to engage the man behind her. She again started firing curses at him but the others began firing at her. She was attempting to shield their attacks while firing her own.

Albus regained his vision just in time to see a man with dark brown hair and blue eyes point his steal baton at him.

He tried again but he couldn't raised a shield.

A red bolt of light erupted from it's tip.

Then a blur of black hair and a gust of wind once again came to his rescue. His heart stopped as blood erupted over the street and Aurora's lifeless body was flung away. She landed face down, not moving.

And seeing her like that. The one he loved more than anything else in this world, the rage returned. The same pure fury that he had felt in the Shrieking Shack when Lithgo had confessed to killing his friend. It was back and they were all going to die!

The pain from his wounds was gone, replaced by something more powerful than adrenaline. His vision focused as he climbed to his feet.

He went for the nearest one. The Cleric tried to point his wand at Albus, but he grabbed his arm and with unbelievable force, snapped it like a twig! The Cleric only had a second to scream before Albus slammed both his fists down on his head like a pneumatic car crusher!

The Clerics head exploded in a shower of blood!

He didn't stop to reveal in it. He was straight for the next landing a massive gravity punch into his sternum sending him flying into the old red car, leaving a huge dent in the door.

Shots and spells rang through the air as the remaining Clerics began firing at him. Both bullets as spells bounced off his shield and ricocheted around. One of the stray spells connected with the shop window smashing it completely.

Before the glass could even hit the floor, Albus was moving again. He grabbed another Cleric, span him and sent him flying into the lamp post, smashing the street light on top. It began buzzing and flashing, still trying to light up the damaged bulb.

A glow of blue light cause Al to spin around, ready for another attack. Instead he watch two men, disappear into thin air while holding onto to a strange battery sized cylinder. A port key.

Move blue glows, signaled the Cleric's retreat. They knew when they were out matched. He watched as they disappeared, some taking the wounded or dead Clerics with them.

The street was suddenly eerily quiet again. Except for the sound of the river next to him and the distant sound of police sirens drawing closer, there was nothing.

The pain in his stomach returned with a vengeance causing Albus to fall to his knees.

He crawled his way over towards Aurora's lifeless body. He rolled her over, exposing the damaged that had been done. Half her face was missing. Her left ear was gone, her eye was absorbed in blood. Half her angelic face remained. Still perfect in every way, frozen in it's last moment of pure spender.

"This wasn't suppose to happen!" He cried as tears washed down his face.

How could anyone destroy something so beautiful? All their moments together suddenly started flowing back to him. That shy smile she gave him at the sorting. Their talk on the train. Her slamming him against a wall in anger. The Quidditch match. The Shack. His Nightmares. The Train station. Her confession. Her smile. Her tears. Her leaving. Their kiss. Their love.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" He cried at the top of his lungs! In the distance the sirens were getting nearer but closer than that he could hear foot steps.

"PLEASE!" He looked down at his shattered angel. "It wasn't suppose to be this way! I suppose to save you!"

He failed her. He had forgotten his oath to protect her no matter what the cost.

"Please don't leave me now! I love you!" His tears fell onto her face but she didn't move. "Please Aurora! I love you!"

The future he had foreseen had finally arrived. Sophia was right. _You can't fight destiny._

_PING!_

Albus looked up. One of the Clerics had remained behind. He had stayed just long enough to wait until Albus dropped his guard. Just long enough to throw a grenade straight at them.

It had bounce off the floor a foot in front of them. It moved, almost in slow motion towards his face.

He moved, putting an arm over Aurora and staring the bomb straight in the eye. The blue glow in the distance subsided as the Cleric escaped.

And less than 6 inches from his face, the grenade exploded.


	21. Looking into the Sun

==== LOOKING INTO THE SUN ====

==== ST. MUNGO'S – LONDON – UK – NOVEMBER 6TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Draco pushed his way through the portal and straight into the lobby of St. Mungo's. He was immediately met by his colleague; Macworth.

"How bad?" Draco asked, pulling off his jacket.

"Bad! She looks like she got hit by a train!"

They continued to walk through the hospital towards the Emergency Rooms.

"Where was she found?"

"She was found floating face down in the river! Someone fished her out and Apparated her right into the ER but they were gone before I could ask them any questions. Believe it or not, I think she was a vampire!" Macworth reported.

"A vampire?"

"She was pale and I thought I saw fangs and she was quick enough to slip out of here without being seen!"

"Any sign of Albus?"

"No, but Auror's are already at the scene!"

Draco didn't have time to contemplate the worst. If anyone knew what had happened to Albus it was Aurora and the only way she was going to be able to tell them is if they saved her.

They both power walked into the ER3. Immediately, Draco saw Aurora lying on the table, the left side of her face was bandaged heavily. Their 3 medi-witches already inside, working on her. Draco pulled out his wand.

"Vitals?" He called to no one in particular.

"Erratic. BP 140 over 90, Heart rate keeps jumping between 105 and 130!" One of the medi-witches said.

"Alright, you take a chest scan?"

"Yeah, no internal bleeding that I can see, but the damage to her neck means that she might be in danger of breathing her own blood," Macworth reported.

"You got a cranial scan?"

"Yeah," Macworth waved his wand causing what looked like a holographic x-ray of Aurora's skull to appear in mid air. It started turning very slowly allowing Draco to check every part of it. "There's a slight depression just here over the left eye brow, but I can't see any major trauma,"

"What about the eye?"

"There's defiant damage to the retina and some scorching around the ires but the optic nerve's intact," Macworth said, pointing out the areas with his wand. "but the cheek bone is completely shatter and the left ear is gone!"

"We got any idea what hit her yet?"

"We don't know for sure. It's not Dark Magic but it was defiantly incendiary because there's been some corterizing of the wound on the cheek and the temple. The ear drum is completely destroyed but jaw and the Carotid Artery seems to be intact."

"Alright, Mac, I want you working on her neck, make sure she doesn't start bleeding into her wind pipe. I'm going to work on the eye, we'll worry about the ear later. The rest of you, work on restructuring the bones in her cheek and make sure you keep an eye on her vitals. If she drops below -"

Suddenly the door behind him was flung open. Harry charged in while a medi-witch tried desperately to stop him.

"Has she said anything?!" He demanded. There was a layer of cold sweat covering his face and he looked like he was about to have a panic attack.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Draco growled in outrage. "We're in the middle on surgery!"

"The blood on the street belongs to Albus! She know what happened to him!" Harry yelled frantically.

"And hows she's suppose to tell you when she's dead?! You want answers, let us do our jobs! Now get the fuck out of my ER!"Draco roared. It was enough to bring Harry back to his senses.

"You tell me the moment she wakes up!"

"If she wakes up!"

Harry gave Aurora one final terrified look then turned and quickly left the room, probably heading back to Venice.

"Alright! Come on, back to work!"

==== VENICE – ITALY – NOVEMBER 6TH – 2021 A.D. ====

The sun was rising quickly over the buildings and Venice was once again jumping to life.

Around the small crater in the cobbled road, several Auror's dressed as police officers were moving around, looking for any evidence they could find. The moment the Italian Ministry heard that Harry Potters child might be involved, they opened their jurisdiction up to the British. They had, however offered to help in the investigation, which is why their were also a dozen Italian personnel there as well.

A crowed had gathered behind the bright yellow police tape that blocked off the area. Auror Castle was carefully placing two empty bullet casings found on the street into a small plastic bag while Ron was simply staring at the river that lined the whole scene. The blood in the water had all but disappeared but that was, apparently, the exact spot that Aurora had been found.

"Ron!" Someone called out. He turned to see Teddy running towards him. "You need to see this!"

They walked down the street, stepping under the yellow tape and then heading right down a small alley way. They continued about 2 blocks down until they saw a group of Auror's gathered around the corner.

Just above them was a table sized cross that would glow green during the night. Just under it was a small sign; _Farmacia_. Pharmacy.

As they got closer, it was obvious that the door had been kicked in. They walked through the waiting room, following a small blood trail on the floor. It led into the back.

In the back room, there was a small white sink covered in blood. Sitting next to the plug hole were two small disfigured lead bullets. Next to the taps was a pair of pliers, an empty syringe and an open bottle with a label that said Morfina/Mophine.

ripped bandage wrappings and several bottles of antibiotics littered the base of the sink. Many had bloody finger prints on them.

Ron's stomach gave a lurch as he realized just how much blood was spread around the room.

"Someone patched themselves up in a hurry," Teddy remarked.

"Al doesn't know how to do this stuff, he's never had any training!"

"He's been in and out of hospital enough times and maybe he's learned some new stuff since he's been away." Teddy hoped. Despite their heated exchange before Al's disappearance, he still cared about him. He's never wish anything like this on him.

"Judging by the amount of blood, this guy really didn't know what he was doing," An Auror remarked before receiving cold looks from Ron and Teddy.

Another Auror came rushing into the Pharmacy. "Ron! Your not going to believe this!" She held up a plastic bag with Aurora's wand inside. "We check the last spells it cast...one of them was the killing curse!"

Ron went pale.

==== ST. MUNGO'S – LONDON – UK – NOVEMBER 6TH – 2021 A.D. ====

"Cheek bones done!" One of the Medi-witches called out.

"Shit!" Macworth hissed. "She's defiantly bleeding from somewhere inside her neck, I just can't find it!"

"Right, I think the eye is going to be okay," Draco said. He traced his wand lightly over Aurora's head before giving it a quick flick. Another, newer, scan of her head materialized in the air. "Mac, check behind the Digastric muscle, there's some shadowing there."

After a few seconds of very careful wand movement Macworth shouted. "I got it!"

Without warning, Aurora started convulsing like crazy. The steady rhythmic beep that was following her heart rate went wild.

"Shit! She's got blood in her lungs!" Draco scrambled around the table. He opened her mouth and muttered an incantation, trying to siphon the blood out of her throat.

The rapid beeping noise turned into one steady tone as Aurora's heart gave out.

"Fuck! Shock her! 150!" Draco ordered.

"Not yet! I haven't closed the wound! You shock her now and it'll tear!" Macworth cried, trying desperately to heal her neck.

"Come one!"

"30 Seconds under!" One of the Medi-witches yelled.

"Almost done!" Mac yelled back.

"Come on!" Draco shouted again.

"50 seconds!"

"I'm done! Hit her!" Mac cried, stepping away from Aurora.

The Medi-witch brought her wand down onto Aurora's chest. Lighting shot from the tip and into her body!

She lurched as the flat line beeped a few times, then returned to the same dead tone.

"Again! 200!"

A second shock made her body spasm even more. Again the tone changed to beeps for a second before returning.

"300!"

The Third shock hit her, causing her to jolt again. The tone changed to beeps again but this time it stayed that way. They were few and far between but her heart was defiantly beating again.

"She's back!" Mac breathed.

"Alright! Make an incision between the 6th and 7th rib under the left breast, let's try and clear out her lungs!" Draco ordered.

With a slash of her wand, the Medi-witch sliced open Aurora's shirt straight down the middle. A second slash cut through the center strap of her bra exposing her bare chest. Draco used his thumb to count her ribs and find the opening. He made a tiny slice into her body. The cut was only small but had tunneled it's way right into her lung.

He began carefully extracting the blood. As he did, her heart rate improved slightly.

Her spirit was allowing her body to hang on and after 3 more hours, Aurora's condition could finally be called _stable_.

Draco cleaned the blood off of his hands and rubbed the sweat of his head. He slowly walked out of the ER.

Now was one of the worst times. Even though they had managed to save her, it was now that all the endless questions began to bombard him. How did this happen, what's happened to Albus, who could have done this?

They were easy to ignore when he was rushing around, trying desperately to heal major wounds but now that he actually had time to think, they were all that entered his mind. Combined with the torturing patience that would be required until she woke up, it was almost unbearable.

"Dad!"

Draco turned to see Scorpius running towards him. He embraced his son but not before seeing the look of terror on his face.

"Is she...," Scorpius couldn't finish.

"She's going to be alright. How did you get here?"

"I brought him." Draco recognized that voice instantly.

Alexander Tannis smiled and held out his hand. Draco shook it instantly. "Good to see you, Alex."

"You too, I wish it were under better circumstances. What's her condition?"

Draco sighed. "Well, she not exactly going to be tap dancing anytime soon. We managed to save the left eye, repair the bones and regrow the ear but the ear drum is shot. And those are buggers to repair. We also manage to close up the main wound but there was a lot of damage. She's going to be scared for life."

Scorpius's mouth dropped. Draco quickly put his arm around him. "It could have been a lot worse Scorpius. She's one tough girl."

"I know," Scorpius admitted quietly.

"Any news on Albus?" Draco asked Tannis.

"None, that I've heard." He said quietly. Draco's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Who else is here?"

"James, Rose, Lily and Mrs. Potter. Everyone else is running all over the place looking for answers." Scorpius said.

"Well, why don't you go and see them, I'll come and find you in a bit" Scorpius was actually a little taken back. His father had never before suggested that he should go any see the Weasley/Potter family. "I need to talk to Alex for a moment."

Scorpius nodded and headed off down the corridor. "And call your mother," Draco yelled after him.

Unfortunately, Scorpius seemed far too deep in thought to have heard him.

"Let's go to my office." Draco said, leading the way.

They walked down the corridor for a few seconds. "So what have you really heard?" Draco asked in a hushed tone.

"A bit of everything. Nobody's sure what to think. They've found evidence that Albus may have escaped the fight but he was defiantly wounded and quite badly from the sound of things." Tannis replied in the same tone. "They suspect that Aurora had something do with it. They've got her wand." He said gravely.

They entered Draco's office. He flicked his wand, closing the door and the blinds over the windows.

"That doesn't prove anything." Draco objected.

"It proves that she cast the Killing Curse! And she's not exactly liked by the Ministry. Whatever happens, they are going to come down on her hard for that!"

"What if she was defending Al?" Draco suggested.

"That would be my theory. But there's no way to prove it." Tannis sighed.

They sat down around Draco's desk. "Do I even want to know who did this?"

"No. I think you know enough about them already," Tannis sighed.

"I know that they have no reservations about blasting the face of a teenage girl!"

"Yes and I'm going to need your help to protect her, Draco." Tannis rubbed his eyes. "The people that did this may try and finish the job. Maybe not in the middle of St. Mungo's but Aurora is a liability to them. They're going to want her out of the way."

"What can I do?" Draco agreed quickly.

"Keep moving her around, make sure she never in the same room for too long. Switch her charts if you have to and then...when she's well enough, transfer her to Hogwarts." Tannis said. "And don't trust anyone!"

"That include you?"

"You can make up your own mind on that one." Tannis smiled.

"Maybe if I knew why you left in the first place, I could make a better decision." Draco tried.

Tannis breathed a laugh. "I'm sure you heard the rumors."

Draco was half shocked. "So it's true then?"

"It was. That was a long time ago."

"You could have kicked the habit here. Why did you leave?"

"I didn't trust my self to be here. I would have done more harm than good." Tannis admitted.

"I don't think that's true. I could have really used your help with Aurora." Draco sighed.

"You seemed to have done a pretty good job without me."

"Not good enough. The damage is pretty extensive. I'm going to put in a call to Alvar Joakim. You ever heard of him?" Draco asked.

"Yes, he won the OMA award. Swedish isn't he?" Tannis recalled.

"Yeah, well they say he's the best a reconstructive magic. Maybe he can do something for her."

"That'll be expensive."

"Maybe not. Professor Joakim, I've heard, is an avid fan of the great Harry Potter. I'm sure that if I explain that the procedure is for a friend of his, he'll be more than willing." Draco grinned.

He raised his eyebrows. "Aurora can hardly be called a friend of Harry's."

"Yeah, but Joakim doesn't know that."

Tannis smiled. "I see you haven't given up on your Slytherin heritage then. It seems to have rubbed off on your son as well."

"Nothing wrong with being wiley. Besides, he wants answers as much as everyone else. He's scared. I saw his eyes...Some part of Harry thinks that his son is dead...some part of me does too...," Draco said grimly.

"It would be a serious mistake to underestimate Albus Severus Potter." Tannis said proudly.

"You mean The Colossus." Draco stated.

Tannis wasn't surprised. It was blissful ignorance that kept Albus's secret from his family and Draco was anything but ignorant these days. He had learned the hard way.

"I hope your right Alex, I really do,"

Draco opened up the draw in his desk that housed the bottle of fire whiskey he would often turn to. He pulled out two glasses and poured the drinks. He pushed one of the glasses towards Tannis, who like slightly hesitant to take it.

"I think it's been a pretty bad day all around." Draco said, taking a sip of his whiskey.

Tannis agreed and reach for his glass.

Suddenly it shot off the table, through the air and into the bloodied hand of Albus Severus Potter.

"Hello," He said simply. His voice was brittled and as deep as a mine shaft. It wasn't hard to see why. There was a large slash across his throat. His cloths were torn and burnt in places and his entire left trouser leg was soaked through with blood. He looked like he had just crawled off of a battlefield!

"Albus! My God!" Tannis stood in shock.

"We thought you were dead!" Draco breathed.

Albus grinned sadistically. "Not all dead," He downed the glass in one, not even flinching. "where is she?"

They led Albus to Aurora's recovery room. No one said a word. Inside, a Medi-witch was checking Aurora's vitals. She looked up in horror at Albus's appearance.

"Get out." He didn't raise his voice but it was enough to send chills down her spine. She left the room as quickly as she could.

Draco and Tannis followed her out, closing the door behind them but they had no shame in waiting outside and watching him through the window.

Albus approached Aurora very slowly. He leaned over her and started whispering something to her.

Draco and Tannis watched silently as he began gently rubbing his face against hers, like a Lion would do to it's cubs. He continued to whisper until finally, he kissed her very softly on the forehead. He then walked back towards the door.

Came looked Tannis dead in the eye. "Find Lincoln and Amelia. Get them down here, they don't leave her side!" It wasn't a request and Tannis was not going to argue. He left immediately. Albus turned to Draco. "We need to talk."

He started walking back towards Draco's office. "Albus!" Draco said quickly. "I need to look at your wounds."

"Later."

"Now Albus! You could be bleeding to death!" Draco stressed.

Albus simply continued to walk towards Draco's office, leaving him to catch up.

As soon as they were back inside, Albus poured himself another large glass of fire whiskey and chugged it down. Then he slowly began taking off his shirt. His body was capped in blood. He had a large bandage wrapped over his stomach but even that was seeping.

He pulled the bandage off, revealing the two bullet holes. He didn't seem to feel any pain whatsoever.

Draco pulled out his wand and started tracing the puncture marks. "You pulled the bullets out?!" He breathed in shock.

"They were hot." Albus answered simply.

Very slowly the wounds began to close. "What about your neck?" Draco asked.

"Shrapnel. Went straight through."

Draco began using the same enchantment on his throat. "What happened out there?"

"A grenade blew up in my face. I got blown into the river," Albus explained quickly. "When I pulled my self out, I saw Amelia Disapparate with Aurora. I stayed away encase I was being followed...and I need to do some thinking...," He was staring into space.

"She's going to be okay. I'm going to call in a specialist to -"

"I heard." Albus cut him off.

"Right...," Draco said, still working on his wounds. "I wish I could have done more...,"

"You can." Albus looked him in the eye. "You used to be a Death Eater."

Draco was a little taken back and slightly insulted. He hated being reminded of that part of his past.

"Yeah, I was!" He quickly pulled up his sleeve revealing a horrible scar that led from his wrist to his elbow. "See you can't just get it removed, it doesn't work that way! The only way to remove the Dark Mark to burn it off or cut it off! And me being a surgeon, I chose the latter."

Albus looked at the scar for a moment. He seemed to find it almost pretty. "I'm not interested in your attempts at redemption. I'm more interested in the kind of people you used to associate with. Bad people. People that trafficked in illegal goods?"

"What is this about Albus?" Draco didn't even try to hide the worry in his voice.

"Tell me everything you know about Hyper-Cognition. Especially where I can get it." Albus' eyes burned.

Draco went pale and took a step back. "No."

A sinister smile crept onto Albus' face. "Ah, so you do know someone then."

"Not a chance! It'll kill you!"

"Not if you have it done right."

"No! I won't help you fry your own brain!" Draco declared.

"You seemed to be under the impression that I'm giving you a choice." Albus said coldly. He flicked his wrist.

Suddenly Draco was lifted off the ground and thrown against the wall where he remained pinned. Albus grinned and walked over to him. Draco's eyes went wide and terrified as Albus held out his hand and began streaming light into his palm.

"Have you ever looked into the sun, Draco? It hurts. It can blind you." He moved his hand close to Draco's face and the light intensified. Draco had to slam his eyes shut.

"Tell me where I can get it." Albus chimed.

"No!"

The light got brighter. Draco tried to turn his head away but couldn't move.

"I'm just going to make this brighter and brighter until it burns through your eye lids. I'll find someone no matter what you do, Draco. If you want to help me, you can point me in the direction of someone that can do it well."

Albus continued to increase the light until it looked like there was a giant flood light in the middle of the office. Soon it would be like a miniature sun!

"Alright!" Draco cried.

The light vanished instantly and Draco came unstuck from the wall.

"See...that wasn't so hard was it?" Albus smiled.

Draco was outraged. He glared daggers at Albus who simply continued to smile at him. Eventually, Draco grabbed a small piece of parchment and a quill. He scribbled some notes on it then handed it to Albus.

"He's very expensive!" Draco hissed.

"I'm very rich." Albus smiled before looking at the piece of parchment.

_Shanghai_

_Luwan District_

_Hefei Road_

_Si Chen Antiques_

_Ask for a haircut..._

Albus turned to leave the office.

"What did you whisper to her?" Draco asked quickly.

"None of your business."

"What is this Albus?! What are you going to do?!"

Albus turned. "What I do best. What nobody else can do," He looked Draco in the eye. "I'm going to kill them all."


	22. Every Dog has its Day

==== EVERY DOG HAD IT'S DAY ====

==== ST. MUNGO'S HOSPITAL – LONDON – UK – NOVEMBER 6TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Albus simply ripped the lock off of the supply room door. He went inside and quickly started to search the many shelves and boxes. Luckily they were all in alphabetical order and he located what he was looking for a few seconds later. A small vial of muddy Polyjuice Potion.

He closed the door behind him as he left.

He returned to the same floor that his sleeping beauty was staying on. As he neared her room, he could hear shouting from the end of the corridor. Harry was still in a frenzy, demanding that Aurora be woken up so that he could try and ascertain information from her.

"Waking her up now could kill her!" Draco yelled.

"She is the only one that knows what the hell happened back there! I need to know!" He screamed back.

"Your willing to put a girls life in danger just so that you can -"

"Albus was there! She knows what happened! He could be hurt! He could be dead!"

"What a terrible thing to say." Albus chimed smoothly.

For a moment Harry simply stared at him in shock. He wasn't sure if it was real or just his imagination. Relief and fear washed over him. He looked at Albus's blood stained and burnt cloths. The small gash on his neck and the dirt on his face. He managed to break out of his mesmerized look and embrace his son.

Albus didn't return the hug.

"I thought -"

"You thought wrong." Albus cut him off.

"Are you alright?" Harry breathed. Tears were starting to appear in his eyes.

"No. I'm very fucking far from alright!" Albus growled. "you even think about touching her and I will be forced to cause you considerable agony!"

Harry was actually forced to take a step back. He a never seen such hatred in his sons eyes before.

"Albus...I-I was just trying to find out what happened...," Harry stammered.

"She got half her face blasted off. I would have thought that would be obvious. But if you want a more detailed explanation...let's go."

"W-what?"

"You debrief people at the Ministry, don't you?"

"Yes, but we don't have to -"

"I want to leave." Albus stated. Harry had never been so intimidated by his own son before.

"Alright...lets go."

Albus turned and began walking down the corridor. Harry was simply stunned. What ever had happened, it had left it's mark on Albus.

Harry was able to catch up with him just as he made it to the floo point in the lobby. Two bursts of green flames later, Albus and Harry were walking through the Ministry Atrium. Harry felt compelled to try and speak to him but every time he tried, no words came out.

They walked towards the elevators. About five other people, all stunned by Al's appearance got into the lift. Albus motioned for Harry to enter before him. As he stepped passed, Al flicked his fingers causing a small golden key levitate out of Harry's back pocket and into his hand. He then made a quick swipe with his finger causing a few of Harry's hairs to be pulled out of his head.

Harry grabbed the back of his head, thinking that something had accidentally caught him. The hairs levitated themselves into Albus's hand.

He quickly pocketed the key and hair and stepped into the elevator.

Several buttons were pushed for different floors of the Ministy and the doors began closing.

A split second before they shut, Albus slid out of the lift, leaving his father trapped. The doors closed behind him and the elevator began moving down.

"Albus! Wait, what are you doing?!"

Harry tugged frantically at the doors but they wouldn't open. As Harry and the lift moved down into the shaft, Albus walked away like nothing had happened.

Now that he had ditched his escort and taken his fathers Gringotts key, he went straight for the employee entrance. He flushed him self straight into the London Underground Bathroom.

He scanned the area quickly. There were four other people in the bathroom. A teenage boy wearing jeans and a hoody, a middle aged man with a sweat shirt on, and two other men that looked like rich businessmen with brief cases.

"Jesus! Are you alright mate?!" The middle aged man asked after noticing Albus.

With a flick of his wrist, the door slammed shut and sealed it self. He then blasted all four of them with gravity bursts, causing the to slam into the walls. Once he was convinced that they were out cold, he started removing one of the businessman's suit.

He used the sink to wash his hands and face, then began removing his blood stained clothes. He quickly put the very nice black suit on and straightened the tie. He emptied out one of the briefcases onto the floor, closed it and headed to the door.

Before allowing the door to unlock, he took out the stolen Polyjuice potion and added Harry's hair to it. He downed the vial in one.

His skin began to bubble and change. His frame became smaller, he lost about an inch off his height and soon a lightning bolt scar had appeared on his forehead. All he needed now was the glasses and nobody would be able to tell the difference.

There was no point in flying. The Leaky Cauldron was only five minutes walk from the Ministry and the sheer amount of people walking around would have been impossible to hide from.

As soon as he reached the pub, he marched straight through without stopping. He ignored the few 'Hello's' and whispers that he got and didn't even bother to smile or wave at Hannah Abbot. He only needed to look like Harry, not be him.

After passing through the barrier, he walked straight down the crowed Diagon Alley and turned into Gringotts bank. He had no problem using Harry's image and notable fame to push in front of the queue of witches and wizards.

At the front of the line, a small Goblin sat behind a desk. He looked a little surprised to see Harry there but stayed professional. "Mr. Potter. Good to have you back. What can Gringotts do for you today?" He asked.

Albus did his best to mimic Harry's voice but the wound on his throat was still making him sound like he was standing at the bottom of a well. "I'm a very large withdraw."

"I see, how much will you be requiring?"

"20,000," Albus said causing the Goblin to raise his eyebrows. "exchanged into pounds Stirling."

The Goblin looked at him suspiciously for a second. He seemed to know that it wasn't Harry. He checked around the bank, waiting to see if any alarms or sensors were tripped but nothing happened.

As Albus expected, the fact that he was indeed a Potter meant that even with a simple Polyjuice disguise, he was able to fool their security.

"Your key please." Albus pulled out the small golden key and handed to the Goblin. He studied it for a second before waving over another, even smaller Goblin.

"This way Mr. Potter." He squeaked. He lead Albus to waiting area and disappeared into another part of the bank. After a few minutes the Goblin returned, struggling with a very large metal suitcase. He ended up simply pushing the metal case towards Albus.

"100,000 pounds Stirling. Will their be anything else Mr. Potter?"

"No. Thank you." He opened the metal case and began transfusing the bills into his stolen briefcase.

As soon as he was done, he began walking towards the entrance.

"Oh, Mr. Potter," The Goblin called back, waving the key in the air. "Your key?"

"It's not mine." Al smiled before leaving the stunned Goblin and the bank behind. This time he had no problem simply walking around the corner and blasting himself into the air.

A few stunned witches and wizards began pointing and yelling as he shot himself through the sky.

==== SHANGHAI – CHINA – NOVEMEBER 6TH – 2021 A.D. ====

By the time he reached the city, the Polyjuice had long since faded and Al again looked like his old self. He landed on top of a building right in the middle of Luwan district and followed the directions that Draco had given him. He weaved in and out of the masses of people that were scurrying about. The place was even busier than London.

London had only recently began implementing the glass TV screens around the city but here, they were everywhere. There wasn't a single space on shops or buildings that was glowing with neon or adversing something.

Albus would have liked to stay longer and admire the city but he had business to take care of.

It wasn't long before he found Si Chen Antiques. Inside, the place was packed solid with every kind of trinket imaginable. It looked like a muggle version of Weasley Wizard Wheezes. Everything from bobble head dogs to Nazi memorabilia lined the many shelves and cases. There was even a sighed movie poster of a very young looking George Clooney there.

Behind a small counter was an old balding Chinese man with glasses. He was working very carefully on a ship in a bottle model. "Wo neng bang ni ma?" He said without looking up.

"I don't speak Chinese." Al said simply.

"American?" The Chinese man asked.

"English."

"Oh, what can I do for you?"

"I'm here for a haircut." Albus stated.

The Chinese man stopped working and looked up. "Haircuts here are very expensive."

"Money's not a problem."

The Chinese man studied Albus for a second before yelling at the top of his lungs towards the ceiling.

A few seconds later, a young Chinese man entered from a back room. He couldn't have been more than 20 years old and was wearing a _50 Cent_ t-shirt.

"Hey." He said simply.

"The English gentleman would like a haircut." The old man said.

The young Chinese guy motioned him towards the back of the store. Albus followed him down a narrow corridor into a small supply room.

"Where abouts in England you from?" He asked. He sounded like he had grown up in America.

He pulled out a long, thin wand from his pocket and gave it a quick wave. The back wall of the supply room shifted and molded it's self into a door much in the same way that the wall did in the Leaky Cauldron.

Through the door was a much larger, open room with what looked like junk lining the sides. Almost everything was covered by white sheets, like the place hadn't been used in 50 years.

"Does it matter?"

"I guess not." He said. "I'm Lao."

"Hi Lao." Albus said not sounding the slightest bit friendly. "I've only got Pounds, is that okay?"

"That's cool," Lao said. "What kind of haircut you looking for?"

"A special one." Albus pulled a piece of parchment, with writing all over it, out of his pocket and handed it to Lao.

Close Combat

Martial Arts

Weapons Handling

Sharpshooting

Explosives Handling

High Speed Pursuit

Trade Craft

Espionage

Guerrilla Warfare

Terrorism Tactics

Hacking

First Aid

Field Medic Training

Battlefield Strategy

Metal Working

Electrical Dynamics

Tracking

Interrogation

Torture Methodology

Human Anatomy

Chemical Handling

Sword Play

Assassination Tactics

Advanced Military Training

French

Russian

Germany

Portuguese

Spanish

Italian

Mandarin

Japanese

Chinese

Korean

Latin

Greek

Merish

Gobbledygook

Binary

Lao looked stunned for a second. These skills were to create nothing less than the greatest killer in history. "I'm sorry. This can't be done." He said quietly.

"That's not what I've heard."

"An implant this big would kill you. No human being in the world could survive this." Lao admitted.

"Good thing that I'm not human then." Albus said simply cause Lao to look confused. "Would you like me to put on the sunglasses and rain coat?"

His eyes suddenly went wide with excitement. He realized that he was standing in the same room as The Colossus. "Jesus Christ!" He breathed.

"Not quite. Although I can walk on water." Albus smiled.

"So...your really one of them?!" Lao asked, still looking at Albus like he was a piece of priceless artwork. "I thought your kind were a myth!"

Albus was actually impressed that Lao had heard of the existence of Anomalies. "All myths come from somewhere."

Lao couldn't help but laugh. He was like a kid at Christmas. "I'm sorry, I just never thought in a million years that I'd actually meet a...a...,"

"Freak?"

"I was gonna say Evo-human. I guess your kind don't actually have a name do you?"

"No. We're not recognized by the Geneva convention either, which is why I need this stuff. Can you do it?" Albus got back to business.

Lao took a breath. "It's possible. But even for someone like you, there is still significant danger involved. Not to mention that there will be side effects."

"Side effects?"

"Insomnia, Migraines, Dizzy spells, Memory loss and...possible psychosis."

"Permanent?"

"I don't know. If it's successful, no, they'll dissipate. But if your body rejects it, they could increase and get worse."

"I can handle it." Albus stated.

Lao paused for a second to think but then caved. "Alright. Because of the danger involved, I'll drop the standard price for you. 30,000 pounds and absolutely no guarantee that won't do a shit load of damage." He offered.

"Done." Al said opening the brief case and pulling out three £10,000 bundles.

He handed the money to Lao who simply placed on the side like it wasn't even all that interesting. He walked over to one of the white sheets at the back of the room and yanked it off.

The sheet had been covering a very large metal and wooden chair. The same kind of chair that was used very widely in the early 1900's to execute people.

"An electric chair?" Albus asked with raised eye brows.

"Yep. 83 Souls have passed through this thing and left their mark on it. Trust me, your going to need all the protection you can get." Lao explained while opening up the wrist and ankle locks.

"Soul Fire?"

"Yeah," Lao looked impressed. "don't meet many people that know about that. Even the Wizarding World prefers ignorance to knowledge on that subject. I guess they gave up on it after they couldn't figure out how to open the Locked Door in the Department of Mysteries."

"I thought that contained love."

"And what exactly do you think created love?" Lao smiled. "It all comes from in here." He pointed to the center of his chest.

Lao walked over to the side and pulled off another white sheet. This one revealed a cupboard full of small glowing vials. They were just like the ones his father had described when telling him about the stock of memories that Dumbledore had in his office. He grabbed a dozen different vials off the shelves before motioning Albus towards the chair.

"You understand that I can't just create the knowledge. It has to come from the memories of other people. You might get a few glitches from these. Nothing serious though. Probably a change in tastes, movies, music, food, stuff like that." Lao said casually.

"I can live with that." Albus said sitting down in the chair. For some reason, his mind wandered back to the sorting in his first year at Hogwarts. Back then, he had an enchanted hat tell him that he didn't actually belong at that school, now he was sitting in an Electric Chair, about to have a few life times worth of knowledge seared into his brain.

_It's a funny world we live in..._

Lao strapped Al's wrists and ankles into the locks and then started uncorking the vials one at a time. He then used his wand to levitate them around the top of the chair. Soon it looked like a minute planetarium was floating around Al's head.

Lao pulled out a gum guard from a draw in the vial shelf. "Here. So you don't bite your tongue off." He fixed it into Al's mouth.

He positioned himself behind the chair and gripped his wand tightly.

"You ready?"

Albus nodded.

"By the way...this is really gonna hurt!"

Lao suddenly brought the tip of his wand down on Albus's head like a lethal stroke from a battle axe. The tiny streams of light that had been floating around shot into Al's skull like a swarm of angry hornets. What followed was a pain so intense that it made the electrocution he received from the Cleric's feel like a Swedish massage. Every fiber of his body seized up and burned white hot. It was as if someone was replacing his bone marrow with battery acid!

He was biting down so hard that he thought his teeth might shatter at any moment. Blood began to run down from his ears and nose.

He felt as if his brain was going to explode at any second, then the pain vanished and everything went black.

==== ST. MUNGO'S HOSPITAL – LONDON – UK – NOVEMBER 6TH – 2021 A.D. ====

After a hell of a lot of shouting, Lynx and Violet had won over the Headmaster and been allowed to travel to St. Mungo's. There they met up with Scorpius, Rose, James, Lily and Hugo. They had been forced to wait in the Lobby while the Medi-Witches performed more tests on Aurora.

Ginny and many of the other Weasley family members had rushed off to the Ministry the moment they heard about Al's second disappearing act. They had agreed to leave the kids at St. Mungo's so that they could stay with Aurora.

Lynx, being Aurora's best friend was beside herself. She was pacing rapidly from left to right, half terrified, half enraged. Rose was pale white as were James, Lily and Hugo. Violet looked like she simply didn't know what to think.

Scorpius however had reverted to the same line of thought that had over taken him during his previous visit to St. Mungo's.

_Albus is indestructible! He's the fucking Colossus! Nothing can stop him! Nothing!_

He refused to allow himself to think otherwise. They had already heard over the wireless, about Al's sudden appearance at the Ministry when he managed to ditch the head of the Auror department and vanish again. He knew what he was doing. Albus wanted revenge and he didn't blame him. They all wanted some retribution for what had happened. Aurora had been badly wounded but would recover and as soon as she did, she, like the rest of them, would be eager to join the fight.

Draco had been acting very strangely since they arrived. He had dodged every single question that had been thrown at him about Al and had disappeared pretty quickly claiming that he was too busy to talk. Scorpius knew his father well. Something had happened and it had nothing to do with Harry Potter.

A Medi-witch walked over to the group. "She heavily medicated and hasn't woken up yet, but you can go and see her now."

They followed the Medi-Witch to Aurora's recovery room.

Everyone was silent as they entered. Rose gasped as she saw the extent of her injuries. Scorpius put his arm around her. No one in their right mind could have ever called Aurora unattractive but now that beauty would be marked for life by her encounter with the Cleric's.

Lynx walked over to her side and gently held her hand. "How could they do this?" She breathed. "She not even one of them!"

"One of who?" Hugo asked looking confused.

Lynx had clearly forgotten that Hugo and Lily had no idea about Anomalies and Clerics.

"One of us." A voice said from the doorway.

Everyone looked up to see Lincoln standing there looking solemn. "Anomalies. Freaks. They weren't there for her, they were there for Albus. Aurora just got in the way." He said.

"Excuse me but who the hell are you?!" James demanded.

"Lincoln. I'm the asshole who almost got her killed." He sighed. "I was suppose to be keeping an eye on them. I went to the bath room and then they were gone and then there was explosions and...,"

"Your like Albus?" Rose asked quietly.

"Nobody's like Albus. But I'm similar."

"Your the Phase-Shifter. The one that found him." Scorpius clicked it.

"Yeah." Lincoln agreed.

"Phase-shifter?" Lily asked automatically.

"Sorry, I don't mean to be rude but what the fuck are you people talking about?!" Hugo blurted.

"Christ sake! Your mums Hermione Weasley and you never caught on?! Albus is the Colossus!" Lynx growled. She really wasn't in the mood at the moment.

"What?!" Hugo's face dropped.

"I knew it!" Lily shouted.

"Oh, somebody else explain this to them! I need a drink!" Lynx hissed.

==== SHANGHAI – CHINA – NOVEMEBER 6TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Albus's eye fluttered open and straight away a numb pounding sensation fell over his entire body.

"Hey, welcome back." Lao said handing him a glass of water. "How you feeling?"

"Like shit in a washing machine!"

"Yeah, that little bitch of a headache is going to stay with you for a while. But, on the bright side, it looks like it worked." He said happily and went over to continue counting the money that Albus had given him.

"Joy." Albus grumbled angrily.

"Listen, important things. One: Do not try and use any of the stuff I gave you for a few days. Let your muscles catch up with your head. Second: Drink only water. No food, no drugs, alcohol, potions, chocolate or anything else that could influence your blood chemistry. Just let it sink into to your body on it's own. You should be okay after about 3 days but don't do anything too strenuous before that." Lao explained.

"Sure."

"And obviously, I don't need to tell you not to repeat where you got this done."

"Obviously," Albus rubbed the back of his head. "aren't you concerned about what I'm going to be doing with this stuff?"

Lao looked at him for a second. "I've seen lists like that before. Nobody gets that kind of stuff put into their heads for no reason. But what ever it is, I don't wanna know about it. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, you were never here."

"Well, if was never here, then I guess I should be leaving."

Albus picked up the briefcase and exited the room. Once he got back outside, he realized that he must have been out for a few hours because it was dark now.

He decided to distance himself from the shop before taking off. He knew the Cleric's were still tracking him when he used his abilities and he didn't want to lead them to Lao. Oddly enough, he kind of liked the guy.

==== ST. MUNGO'S HOSPITAL – LONDON – UK – NOVEMBER 6TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Professor Alvar Joakim had been talking with Draco and looking at scans of Aurora's face for the better part of an hour. Scorpius and the others had been allowed to stay in Aurora's recovery room while they spoke and Lincoln had been making regular sweeps of the hospital.

Hugo and Lily had been very quiet since the real reasons behind the attack had been explained. They simply couldn't believe it. The idea that there was a whole other world living inside there own was shocking to say the least. They now knew what it was like to be muggles.

Professor Joakim and Draco re-entered the recovery room.

"Hello, I'm afraid I need to look at ze damage first hand." He said in a think Swedish accent.

"I'm staying." Lynx said instantly.

Joakim looked at Draco for some kind of support.

"It's okay, they can stay." Draco said tiredly.

"Very well. Zis may not be pleasant though." He said taking out his wand and very carefully removing the heavy bandages around her face.

Rose, Lily and Violet gasped and Lynx was forced to look away as the full extent of the damage was shown. Hugo looked like he was ready to puke. There was little or no skin anywhere on the side of her face and the bone was still exposed on certain parts of her cheek and eye brow. Large amounts of her hair had been burned away and her regrown ear looked like it had been partially melted.

"Ahh," Joakim said. He wasn't the slightest bit unnerved by the gore. "you did a very good job on the eye Healer Malfoy and ze ear seems to be coming along nicely. Ze bad news is this section on the temple. Ze scorching of the skin makes it impossible to remove all scaring. But I'm confidant that Ze cheek can be repaired."

"We were going to start work on reconstructing the ear drum tomorrow be we can hold off on that if you like?" Draco asked.

"Ze drum will take time but it is not ze main priority. I'll start on ze cheek and ze temple tomorrow." Joakim said happily.

"Not tomorrow, now." A voice came from the doorway.

Albus was stood with an emotionless face. No one knew how long he'd been standing there. As will all his most recent appearances, stunned silence was all that followed. James managed to break through it and hug his brother. Albus returned the hug and then received the same treatment from Lily. Soon they were all coming up and embracing him. Even Lynx. Hugo was the only one that hung back.

Albus realized that this was the first time he had seen them in 11 months. He also realized just how much he had missed them.

"What's wrong Hugo?" Al asked. "you not happy to see me?"

Hugo attempted to speak several times but nothing happened.

"Oh, I see," Albus guess. "You told him?" He asked Scorpius.

Scorpius nodded.

Albus ignored Hugo's stunned look and turned to Professor Joakim. "How long is her recovery going to take?"

Joakim looked just as stunned as Hugo but for a completely different reason. "Oh-I-Err...maybe one or two months." He said absently studying Albus. It became pretty obvious that Professor Joakim hadn't only come because he wanted to meet Harry Potter, but because he wanted to meet his son as well. The boy with the incredible aging disorder.

"Then you better get started." It wasn't a suggestion. He turned to his brother. "Find dad, tell him that his Key is in Gringotts."

"His key? What?" James looked perplexed.

"Just do it!"

"Thought I smelt something," Lincolns voice came from the doorway.

"I was just coming to find you," Al said. He nodded his head motioning Lincoln out of the room.

The two Anomalies walked to Al's favorite smoking spot on the roof.

As soon as they were up there, Lincoln pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered one to Al, but he shook his head.

"You picked a hell of a time to try and quit." Lincoln remarked.

"I'm not quitting. I just can't smoke for the next few days."

"Suit your self,"Lincoln lit up his smoke. He sighed. "It's my fault. I was suppose to be watching you two and I just...I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault. It was mine."

"You gonna blame your self for everything they do now?"

"I had a heads up about this and I still couldn't stop it...," Albus stared into the distance.

"What do you mean, 'a heads up'?"

"I need to talk to Sophia and the Precog," Al said quickly.

"Alright. I'll set something up."

"And Lincoln," Albus looked at him. "I also need guns. Lots of guns."

==== MINISTRY OF MAGIC – LONDON – UK – NOVEMBER 6TH – 2021 A.D. ====

James floo'd directly to the Ministry and headed straight for the Auror offices. He wasn't sure if his father would actually be there but he was sure he'd at least be able to leave a note.

To his surprise however, almost every Auror the department had was there, rushing around like they were preparing for war!

"James!" Teddy Lupin shouted from across the room. "What are you doing here? You weren't suppose to leave the hospital!"

"Erm...Al sent me." James really didn't know what else to say.

"Al!? Where is he? Is he okay?!" Teddy asked quickly.

"I don't know, he's acting kinda...scary," James mumbled. "He sent me here to find dad."

"He's in his office. Come on."

Teddy led him through the crowed department to the offices at the back. Harry and Ron were visible through the glass windows. Teddy didn't bother knocking.

"James, what are you doing here?" Harry asked immediately.

For some reason James suddenly felt extremely embarrassed. "Err...Al says that Gringotts has your key."

"My Key? What?!" Harry suddenly felt the back pocket of his trousers and realized that it was missing. "He stole my vault key?!"

"Well, some Swedish healer came to St. Mungo's to work on Aurora. Maybe it was to pay for that." James suggested.

"Maybe it was to pay for something else!" Ron said gravely.

"Shit!"

"What? What's going on?" James asked.

Harry sighed. "Witnesses say that they saw Albus and Aurora arguing with two men about money. They said something about being owed money and then something about her father. Then all hell breaks loose."

"Wait...you think Al's going to pay off the guys that attacked them?"

"I don't know...,"

James wanted depretly to tell them about the Cleric's but that would mean telling them about Anomalies as well. He would have to tell them that Al is the Colossus. That would complicate everything.

"Well...maybe they weren't the ones that attacked them. Maybe it was some one else?" He tried.

"There were several different blood types at the scene, but both those guys had their memories wiped," Teddy added.

"Their could have been more of them and the witnesses just didn't see them." Ron suggested.

"We got 5 different blood types from that street. One was Al's, one was Aurora's and the other 3 we can't identify. We know that Albus was shot and both the mind wipe guys were armed with muggle weapons. There was a lot of blood there, there was even brain matter on the street but no bodies. This isn't making any sense!" Harry growled in frustration.

"The Killing curse leaves no trace so something else was used. Something messy." Teddy agreed.

"Killing curse?" James asked.

"Aurora used the Killing curse and we know it connected," Harry said gravely. "she killed someone."

"She was protecting Albus!" James objected.

"James, using the Killing curse comes with the highest punishments that we can give out. The circumstances that it was used in make no difference."

James looked horrified. "You think it's her fault?!" He breathed.

"Look that the evidence we have. I think that something her father did caused these guys to want money from her. She refused and attacked them or they attacked her. She killed one of them and then their friends turned up. Both Al and Aurora got injured during the fight but managed to hold them off until the muggle police arrived. The men retreated, taking their dead with them but not before leaving behind a muggle grenade to try and finish them off. It fits." Harry said.

"Well maybe you don't have all the evidence!" James cried.

"Maybe not! But I can't find out what really happened when the one person that can explain it keeps running away from me!" Harry sighed.

"We're not jumping to any conclusions but right now, this is all we have to go on." Ron tried to make James understand.

James actually laughed. He could see why Al and Aurora wanted to hide the truth from all of them. "You know, we're all family here...but you guys don't know Al half as well as you think. He's not running away, he's not hiding and he's certainly not going to pay the people that just tried to kill the woman he loves. And your little theory is really going to piss him off. If I were you...I'd stay away from him." He warned before storming out of the office.

For a few seconds nobody spoke. They'd never heard James speak about his brother in such a way.

"What do you want us to do?" Teddy asked.

"Double the security at St. Mungo's. If he comes back, I want to be the first to know. I'm afraid that my son is about to do something very stupid."

==== THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM – LONDON – UK – NOVEMBER 7TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Sophia was sitting in front of the Human Evolution exhibit. She must have thought it would be an ironic little touch. Against the wall was a very large picture of the Evolution of Man. As always it started from a simple primate and ending up as a human in a suit.

Just down the hall, looking at a skeleton of a primate was the still very smell and ragged looking Cajan; Sarno.

"How's your stomach?" She asked as Albus approached.

"Better," He sat down next to her.

"Imagine what people would say if they found out that this was incomplete," She pointed at the Evolution of Man picture. "there should be at least two others after that businessman. But the world isn't ready to know that yet."

Albus simply stared at the picture in silence.

"I'm sorry Albus." She said softly.

"You said you can't change the future, but she was dead in my dream,"

"Was she? Or did she just look dead?"

Albus didn't have an answer for that.

"It's another one of those cruel twists. Even though you can see the future, your eyes still manage to play tricks on you." She continued.

"I haven't had any other visions. What does it mean?" He asked.

"It means that nobody is supposed to know what happens next. Not even you," She said. "but I think I have a pretty good idea of what your planning to do."

"You gonna try and stop me?"

"Do you have an idea how many of my friends those people have killed over the years. I want them dead as much as you do,"

"How do I find them?"

"I don't know," She admitted. "but he does." She nodded towards the Cajan. "He's knows where they will be before they do. How do you think he's stayed alive all this time?"

"Will he tell me?" Al asked.

"That's up to him."

"Maybe I should make him." Albus threatened.

"That won't work. He'll just feed you some bullshit that'll just get you into trouble. He's always been a little iffy when it comes to giving out information on the future. But, maybe if you ask him nicely...," Sophia explained.

"Does he always smell this bad?" Al grimaced.

"No...he used to smell worse," She smiled.

Albus stood up and walked over towards the Cajan. The potent stench of whiskey and tobacco was clouding his senses. It was so strong that it actually covered up every other smell in the hall.

"Sorry bout your girl," Sarno said without looking. He was still strangely fascinated by the elongated skull of the primate. "don't worry, she still be sexy once she healed up."

"You know what I'm going to ask so you may as well just tell me yes or no."

"You know what's odd...," Sarno smiled showing his bad teeth. "I been seeing a lot of you lately. I see you hear, see you tomorrow, see you all over da place. See what you gone do. But before you get ta doin' it. Somethin's missin'. A gap, between you lookin' for them and you findin' them. I been wondering why for a long time. But I think I figured it out. You find them, because I tell you where to find them...,"

"So what does that mean?"

"That mean, you gone be at 23 Bakersfield Street, San Diego California at 8:32pm on November 14th. That where you gone meet the first poor bastard!"

"Anything else I should know?" Al asked.

"No," Sarno said instantly. "Excep' that all the help you gone get from me. This your show, not mine."

"That's all the help I need."

Albus turned and walked back towards Sophia. "I want you to disappear for a while. I don't went to risk them getting close to you because of me."

"Alright. But I'm leaving Lincoln and Amelia with you. They're looking to make up for what happened in Venice. Don't be afraid to ask for their help." Sophia smiled and stood. "Good luck, Albus."

Both she and the Cajan walked towards the exit leaving Albus in the hall of Evolution. Before leaving, he took one final look around at how far mankind had come and wondered how far they would go.


	23. The Present Future

==== THE PRESENT FUTURE ====

==== OUTSIDE ODESSA – UKRAINE - NOVEMBER 10TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Russia was very cold this time of year. And a warehouse that had most of it's roof missing meant it wasn't any warmer inside than out.

The Russian Mobsters watched carefully, fingers still on triggers as Albus surveyed the massive line up of illegal munitions. He picked up a fully automatic pistol, feeling the weight and balance of it, then placed it back on the table.

A shot gun caught his eye. He gave it the same examination. He then did the same to an Automatic Rifle lying a little further down the table.

The man that Lincoln had called Vlad, stepped forward. He had a brutal looking scar across his cheek and spoke with a deep Russian accent. "See anything you like?"

"I'll take the Ots-33 automatic pistol, the Beretta Xtreme2 Pump, The SIG SG 550, The RPG-27 anti-tank launcher, 2 Kevlar vests and 5000 mix rounds," He spotted one of Vlad's men wearing a very nice black trench coat. "and his jacket."

Vlad nodded to the man who began begrudgingly taking of his coat.

"You got any C4?" Al asked.

"Bout 150 pounds."

"I'll take all of it," Al said trowing him his briefcase. "and you can keep the briefcase."

Vlad took a quick peak inside the briefcase. The moment he spotted the cash he closed it back up and handed it to one of his men. "I wonder, what you need with all this fire power?"

"Self defense." Albus said simply.

"That's same excuse Lincoln gives me," Vlad smiled. "looks to me like you are going hunting!"

"Not hunting. Exterminating...and I have some very big cockroaches to deal with." Al smiled back.

"I hate cockroaches." Vlad agreed.

"But you like money. Is that enough or do you want more?"

"Alas, weapons are becoming so damned easy to get hold of these days, you have to sell at good price just to stay on top!" He laughed. "Only difference is, all my guns work!"

"I hope so...these roaches shoot back."

"They won't be shooting back after you use my tools!" He laughed.

"No, they won't." Al smiled.

==== ST. MUNGO'S HOSPTIAL – LONDON – UK – NOVEMBER 11TH – 2021 A.D. ====

The group had very begrudgingly returned to Hogwarts with the understanding that they would be allowed to come back on weekends. Tannis had also allowed one person to stay with Aurora at all times. It would switch between her closest friends on different days so that none of them missed too much school.

Today, it was Lily's turn. Even though she had never actually considered herself to be a 'close friend' of Aurora's, she was nevertheless Albus' sister and after her sacrifice, she had gained a lot of respect.

It takes some serious stones to step in front of a lethal curse. It was also undeniable evidence that Aurora loved Albus more than life it's self.

For some reason, she felt quite awkward about being there. She was after all, only a 13 year old Gryffindor. She had no idea how to act around Aurora or how to relate to her. Not only was she older then she let, she was also a fiercely powerful witch and a bodyguard. On top of all that, she was in love with her older brother.

What do you say to someone like that?

"Lily?"

Lily actually jumped. She looked over to see Aurora's unbandaged eye looking at her. "Err...hi...," Lily managed to squeak.

"Albus...where's Albus?" Aurora's voice was weak and strained. The memories of what happened were returning and she was once again terrified for his life. "He's hurt...,"

"He's fine! He's okay!" Lily assured her immediately. She quickly took hold of Aurora's hand.

Tears began dripping from Aurora's good eye. "He's okay? He was shot...,"

"It's alright...he's okay...," Lily smiled softly. "you saved him."

Aurora's hand moved up and felt the bandage over her face. She began to cry even harder. "What did they do to me?"

"It's okay," Lily tried, still holding onto her hand. "your going to be alright."

But Aurora didn't seem to agree. She looked so terrified and Lily knew why. She had been given the back story of Al & Aurora's relationship only a few days ago. She was cry for the same reasons that she didn't get together with Al sooner. She believed he would want her and now she was afraid that he wouldn't want a scarred girl.

Anomalies are as close to perfection as a living being could get and therefor they demanded to be paired with a being of equal evolutionary status. They would always try and find the strongest, smartest and most powerful mate they could to ensure that their offspring would be even more perfect.

It was their instinctive way of ensuring that their species stayed at the top of the food chain. Of course the Cleric's made sure that that never happened. In fact, there had never been a single child born from two Anomalies. They would always evolve into what they were and then the Cleric's would hunt them down and kill them before they could mate.

Albus had already gone against his own nature because he loved human. He had chosen a lesser being and now she would be a scarred lesser being. She was afraid that her face would remind him of that fact. Lily never thought anyone could be that selfless, but Aurora was living proof. The only reason she cared about the way she looked was because she thought that she wouldn't be good enough for him without being beautiful.

"Albus has been here, he's coming back soon," She said softly. "he still loves you Aurora. He doesn't care about...," She broke off. She couldn't bring herself to say the word 'scar'.

She pulled her hand away from Lily's and covered the undamaged side of her face. She continued to cry for the next 20 minutes until the door to her recovery room was opened.

As soon as she saw him she tried to cover her face from him. She didn't want him to see her like that.

Albus walked straight over, pulled her hands away and kissed her. She tried to push him away at first but then wrapped her arms around him and refused to let go. "I'm sorry...," She repeated over and over again, begging his forgiveness for little herself get marked.

"I love you so much," Albus breathed. "I'll always love you."

Lily decided to quietly slip out of the room and leave them alone.

It took Albus the better part of 30 minutes to get Aurora to calm down. She still didn't seem completely convinced that he didn't care about her face but for now she was content that he was alright and with her.

Albus had crawled onto her bed and now had his arms wrapped around her waist. The same way they hugged after their first day of admitting their love for each other.

"Aurora," He whispered into her ear. "there are some things I need to do. Terrible things."

"Your going after them, aren't you?" She stated.

"They've hunted my species to extinction, they killed your parents, they...they tried to take you away from me...they have to be stopped."

"Albus -" Aurora tried.

"I won't let them hurt you again!"

She was about to speak when Albus's attention was grabbed by footsteps running towards the room. The Door was opened and a panting Draco Malfoy entered quickly. He didn't seem the slightest bit sorry for interrupting them.

"Albus, The Auror's are here. They're looking for you!" He said quickly.

"I have to go." Albus whispered to Aurora.

"I know," She kissed him softly then moved closer to whisper into his ear. "kill them all."

Albus didn't have time to appreciate her support. "Anything for you." He smiled and stood.

He walked out of the room quickly and headed for the stairs but before he got there, 4 Auror's, led by Castle stepped out and blocked his way.

"Hi." Albus smiled, walking towards them.

"Al, you fathers ordered us to detain you." Castle said.

Albus laughed. "This is because I robbed, isn't it."

"It certainly didn't help. We know you've been through a lot. We just want to help you."

"By arresting me?"

"He just wants to talk."

"Fine," Albus smiled, putting his hands up. "should I call a lawyer?"

"I don't think that'll be necessary." Castle said.

They moved closer to restrain him. The second one of the Auror's put his hand on Al's shoulder, he moved. Al span the Auror around and into another, he smashed Castle in the face, and kicked out the legs of the fourth all with lightning speed and vicious accuracy.

The Auror's went for their wands but weren't fast enough. Albus laid a massive kick into one of the Auror's sending him flying against the wall. He caught the other by the wrist, stopping him from taking aim. He tugged the Auror's arm outstretching it, then elbowed him hard in the shoulder popping the bone out of the socket.

He smacked the third one in the throat, closing his windpipe and causing him to choke and struggle for air.

Castle tried to hit Albus with a stunner but again he was two quick. He dodged the spell, spa around and disarmed Castle in a heartbeat. Before any of them could regroup, Albus pulled his Automatic pistol from behind his trousers and pointed it at Castle.

"I don't think I'm going to let you arrest me today, Castle," Albus smiled fiercely.

Castle and the other Auror's was shocked into disbelief. They couldn't believe that he could fight like that.

"Why don't you come a see me in a few weeks. Then you can try and arrest me for mass murder!" He winked before heading for the stairs.

He tucked the gun away and shot up the staircase. Just as he reached the top, another Auror came bolting around the corner. He barely had time to look at Albus before being punch straight in the balls, then thrown down the stairs.

The Auror crumpled into a bloody mess at the bottom as Al continued to head for the roof. He pushed open the small door leading to the roof and move outside. Just next to the door was a large black bag filled with all the weapons and explosives he had purchased.

He picked up the back then dived straight off the roof, blasting himself through the air and into the clouds.

==== MINISTRY OF MAGIC – LONDON – UK – NOVEMBER 11TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Teddy entered Harry's office looking stunned. "We just got a Patronus from St. Mungo's. Al just beat the crap out of 5 Auror's and disappeared again!"

"What?!" Harry couldn't believe it.

"How the hell does Al take out 5 highly trained Aurors?!" Ron blurted with the same disbelief.

"I don't know! But...," Teddy hesitated. "they said he was armed as well."

"He got a new wand?"

"A gun. And...," Teddy said gravely. "he told Castle...he said he was going to kill a lot of people."

Harry almost collapsed. His face was pale white.

"He's snapped," Ron breathed. "He's actually lost it!"

"Maybe...maybe something happened during the attack. Flipped him, messed with his head." Teddy suggested.

"Right!" Ron agreed. "He already had that curse used on him for half a bloody year! Some thing happened during the attack...it's messed him up! He's confused! He doesn't know what he's doing!"

Harry couldn't speak. He couldn't move, he couldn't even think.

"Or he's being controlled! Somebodies put the Imperious curse on him or there's another Voodoo doll! He was missing after the attack. They could have done something to him then!" Ron continued trying to churn out logical reasons behind Al's actions.

"We have to find him!" Teddy agreed.

"He's not crazy," Harry breathed. His voice was hollow and he was staring into nothingness. "he's not being controlled...he's in love with her...," He finally realized. Albus ran away the same day he found out that Aurora wasn't going back to Hogwarts. He was trying to protect her. "He wants revenge. He wants to kill the people that hurt her."

Harry simply couldn't believe it but he couldn't deny it either.

==== LOS ANGELES – CALIFORNIA – USA – NOVEMBER 14TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Even though it was also 2 o'clock in the morning, the streets were still pretty busy. Albus walked with the giant black bag hung over his shoulder looking for a secluded place to work. He found what he was looking for on South Vermont Avenue in the form of a large vehicle repair shop. It would have all the tools he needed.

He walked down the side of the garage until he found a door. He simply ripped it off the hinges and walked inside.

After finding the light switch he emptied the contents of the bag onto the large work table. He decided to work on the shotgun first. He measured the barrel then searched the garage for some spare metal. He used the power saw to cut the barrel down and shape the metal pieces he needed.

An hour later, he had turned it into a large silencer. He repeated the process for the machine gun and then created an extended clip for the shot gun. He then went to work on the explosives.

He rigged up several detonators that could be activated by phone and taped them to large blocks of plastic explosives.

The knowledge from the implant was serving him well but he was also starting to feel the side effects. He stop at one point when a Migraine shot through his skull. He also found his eyes becoming slightly more sensitive to the light from time to time. Luckily he hadn't had any memory lapses or he could have accidentally blown himself up.

He actually found it quite odd. He knew exactly how to do all these things but he couldn't remember actually doing them.

He went on to pull the bullet proof metal plate out of one of the Kevlar vests and replace it with several chunks of C4. He attached a manual detonator to it and a count down timer so that it could be used as either a remote weapon or a suicide bomb.

By 7 o'clock, the sunlight began to creep through the windows. The workers would be arriving soon.

Al packed up his things and left before they turned up.

He quickly found a cheap motel just down the street and rented a room. His original intention had been to try and get some sleep but he realized that wasn't going to happen. He was filled with a constant adrenaline powered excitement. He kept checking the clock, knowing that in only a few short hours, he would be staring face to face with one of the men that attack his girl.

But his eagerness meant that time was moving slowly. He had to be at the house at 8:32pm exactly. If he went earlier or later he might miss his chance. Unfortunately, that line of thought cause him to start questioning the Cajan's information. He wondered whether or not he could trust him to tell him the truth.

Sarno had no doubt known that Al and Aurora would be attack that night in Venice. He had kept it quiet. He couldn't blame him because Albus had also decided to keep his vision to himself. He had only told Sophia and she had informed him of the unfortunate fact that the future can't be changed.

And just like clockwork, they had arrived, shot him, shot her and disappeared. Maybe things were suppose to unfold that way. The Butterfly Effect. Sophia had visited Albus once before, spoken only a few words and 10 years later, Albus was the most powerful being on earth.

But even with all his power, he was still relying solely on the Cajan's knowledge.

There was a knock at the door. Albus pulled out his pistol and moved against the wall. He didn't step out in front of the door encase someone started putting bullets through it.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"Mr. Potter, it's Julia from the reception desk," A female voice said. "A letter just arrived for you and I was told to deliver it to you."

"Could you slide it under the door? I'm in the bathroom." Al lied.

"Sure." A second later a small yellow envelop was pushed through the crack.

Albus waited until he heard her walk away before picking it up. He smelt the envelop but didn't pick up on anything unusual.

He opened it up to see a short letter written in neat handwriting.

_Albus_

_The man your going to meet tonight is called Sean Daggra. He and his brother Jack were present during your attack, in fact, the Cajan tells me that Sean is the one that shot you and his brother is the one that wounded Aurora. _

_I think he's only giving me this information because it's already happened. I can't guarantee that he'll be this helpful in the future._

_Good luck Albus and don't worry about using your ability. Lincoln and Amelia are preparing a little surprise for them._

_Sophia._

_P.S. - Please burn this letter after you read it._

Some part of him wondered if the Cajan was a mind reader too or if he some how knew that Albus would doubt him later on. That doubt vanished and was again replaced by a sudden burst of excitement.

He had had a lot of time to think about what was coming. Even before he had been told where to find Sean. He knew what he had to do the moment that he survived the Grenade. He would have to go all the way. Become the enemy, a monster. He would have to hurt his own family and take human life, but in the end, it would be worth it.

The door flashed inside his head, almost as if it were agreeing with him.

He didn't leave the room until the sun had gone down. He made his was to San Diego via public transport. With any luck, the Cleric's would still think that he was somewhere in Los Angeles due to the last time he used his powers.

That's probably what Sean was doing in San Diego in the first place. Waiting for his friends to call and tell him where he can find Albus. The others were probably quite close by, waiting for the word to move in and try and finish him off.

They weren't going to get that call.

==== CLERIC TEMPLE – LOCATION UNKNOWN – NOVEMBER 14TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Alarms were ringing out everywhere. Several men and women ran towards a large floating 3D projection of the Earth. Just behind it was a large computer screen with a man that looked like some kind of technician typing on a keyboard.

"Where is it?" One of them asked.

"California." The Technician answered.

On the Earth projection, a small white dot had appeared on the sound west coast of America.

"It's him. Let's go!"

"Wait! I got another hit!" The Tech called out. "This ones in Lisbon."

The Cleric's looked confused. "He's not that fast!" One called out.

"I got a third one! Geneva!"

"What the hell?"

"They're messing with the readings. He's got help." A man said, walking towards the globe. It was Marshal. Jack Daggra followed just behind him.

"Forth hit! Tokyo!" The Tech called out.

"Lincoln and his sister, using port keys probably." Marshall guessed.

"Well, which one do we go for?"

Marshall thought for a second as the new readings began to appear on the Globe.

"Another one, Berlin!"

"Maybe there's a pattern to it." A Cleric suggested.

"And maybe they're just fucking with us." Jack muttered.

"The first one was L.A., The second was Lisbon -"

"First one wasn't L.A.," The Tech interrupted. "it was San Diego."

"San Diego?" Jack asked with concern. "Where exactly in San Diego?"

Another white dot appeared in Sydney, Australia.

"Triangulating...,"

Another dot appeared in the same place as the first one.

"Bakersfield Street, San Diego," The Tech said. "And we just got another hit in the same location!"

"Oh my god!" Jack was terrified. "That's where my brother is!"

==== MI6 HEADQUARTERS – LONDON – UK – NOVEMBER 15TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Agent Wells was working away in his office. Across his desk were several surveillance photos of a man with a dark beard. On his computer screen was a picture of the same man but with a spider graph with points leading to pictures of other people.

His office door was opened causing him to look up.

"Hi, can I help you?" Wells asked. The man standing in front of him looked strangely familiar.

"You can get me information and real time locations for everyone on this," He pulled out a mobile phone from his pocket.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Wells asked.

"I give you a clue. I can fly." Albus smiled.

"Huh," Wells laughed. "thought you looked familiar. Decided to do away with the disguise?"

"How'd you guess?" Albus said sarcastically. He handed Wells the phone. "can you do it?"

"Sure, unless the numbers lead to ghost phones,"

"That's doubtful,"

"Anyone In particular I should be looking for?" Wells asked.

"No, just get me everything you can."

"Okay. I've got a few people in these files that you might want to find." Wells offered.

"Later. I've got other things to take care of at the moment," Al said. "How long will it take you?"

Wells started flipping through the phone. He looked at the small number next to the option: _Phonebook – 18. _"18 Names, a day or so. I take it that these people have been very naughty if your taking an interest in them."

"Yes they have. Unfortunately they operate outside the law so no body else is going to stop them."

"Which is usually where you come in." Wells smiled.

"They probably wont look like the kind of people I usually visit. In fact I'm guessing that they'll look like normal innocent people."

"In my experience, those are the ones you need to keep an eye on," Wells smirked. "bad guys stick out like a sore thumb. It's the ones that we can't see that worry me."

"My thoughts exactly. I'll be back tomorrow." Al said. He headed straight for the door.

"Oh Colossus?" Wells called out. "try not to create anymore Black Holes. They're a pain in the arse to clean up after."

"No promises." Al smiled.

He couldn't help but find it ironic. He had just murdered a man in cold blood and now the British Secret Service, the people charged with protecting the country, were about to give him his next targets.


	24. The War of Evolution

==== THE WAR OF EVOLUTION ====

==== SAN DIEGO – CALIFORNIA – USA – NOVMEBER 15TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Despite the fact that they dressed like them, talked like them and were using the exact same methods of investigation, these people were not police officers. They were simply there to clean up their own mess.

Sean Daggra's body lay on the floor with a blood stained white sheet covering it.

Several Cleric's were checking for forensic evidence around the room. One was taking finger prints from empty beer bottle, while another was taking ballistics from the blood splatter on the wall.

Marshall was simply watching the whole scene unfold.

Another Cleric with short brown hair and a goatee named Ethan, walked over to him. "It's pretty much what it looks like. 12-gauge round to the head at close range. I don't understand why he would use a gun though."

"He's covering his tracks. Making it easy for us to clean up."

"How's he doing?" Ethan nodded towards the open front door. On the door step, Jack Daggra was sat with his face in his hands still shaking slightly.

"His brother just died. How do you think he's doing?" Marshall sighed.

Another Cleric walked over to Marshall. "Sir, we've checked the whole house. His phone is defiantly gone."

Marshall rubbed the back of his neck. "Do we know who he called?"

"Not exactly. I know he made a few calls though. 15, maybe more." Ethan said.

"Find out how many of our people might be compromised. Move them to the Temple or the Safe house. Put up the Fidelius Charm, cut the floo connection, the works. I seriously doubt that he is done looking for us."

==== AURORA'S HOME – VENICE – ITALY – NOVEMBER 16TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Albus and Lincoln were sitting on the same couch that Albus had woken up on only days before. There were several empty beer bottles on the tables and both men had a fresh drink in their hands.

They had been celebrating.

"Feels weird being here without Aurora." Lincoln sighed.

"Yeah," Al agreed. "it's seems like a long time since I was last here."

"Maybe she'll let you move in when this is all done with."

"I wouldn't say no to that. But I doubt this is going to be over for a while," Al took a swig of his beer. "how do you think they'll react to this?"

"Hard to say. I've kill 4 of em' in my time but that was only because I had to. No one has ever started chasing them before. It's always been the other way around. To be honest, I think it's probably thrown them a little off balance."

"Good. I want them to be scared."

"They're not fearless, Al. They may hunt us down and kill us but they're still human. I think they've always been afraid of us." Lincoln mused.

"Well, now they have a good reason to be." Al smiled.

"It's never pleasant, when the hunters become the hunted. Still, couldn't be happening to a nicer bunch of stick toting pricks!"

Al laughed. "What are those things they use? Those batons?" he asked.

"Wands. Encased in enchanted metal. Makes it a hell of a lot harder to snap em'," Lincoln explained. "of course, just because you take their wands away doesn't mean they're not dangerous. They use guns, bombs, knives, nets, tasers, tranqs...but you know that already."

"Yeah, I do. What else they got on their side?"

"Apart from the machine? It's hard to say. We've heard rumors that they got some kind of headquarters hidden somewhere. Nobody knows where it is but them. We hear that's where the machine is."

"What exactly is this machine?"

"We don't know. All we know is that it can find us when we use our abilities. Other than that, all we really know is that they have a Prophecy, a lot of weapons and they really don't like us!"

"Well, I'll look into it," Albus finished the rest of his beer and stood up. "I'm gonna go back and see if Wells has found anything for me. You should get back to the hospital."

==== MI6 HEADQUARTERS – LONDON – UK – NOVEMBER 16TH – 2021 A.D. ====

"This is one hell of a weird list you gave me!" Wells said, letting Albus into his office. He walked over to his computer and started pulling up the files on the hard drive. "All but 3 of these people have literally dropped off the face of the earth. Well technically only one hasn't." He pulled up the information on all 18 names. "They're files just stop in different places. Some haven't been seen in over 20 years! Other only vanished a few months ago. The only reason they aren't on any missing persons lists is because they still pay their taxes on time!"

Albus knew what that meant. It was the moment they joined or were recruited into the Cleric's. "You said 3 weren't?"

"Well, no, just 1 now. These 2...," Wells pulled up the files of two middle aged men. Albus recognized them immediately. He had crushed the skull of one of them. "were killed in a head on collision, 2 days ago and as you can see, their files are completely blank for 6 years before that." He typed a few more keys bringing up another file. This one was a woman of the same age with dark brown hair and blue eyes. The name Laura Harring was just under her picture. "She is the odd one out. 3 Weeks ago, she sent a letter to a county court house in Maine, USA, saying that she couldn't attend jury duty for medical reasons. I did some checking and there was a return address on that letter. Number 44, Deer Isle Rd, Bangor, Maine. But just like the others, her file goes completely blank for over 5 years before that. I think, that the only reason this piece of info didn't disappear as well, was because it's so trivial that 99% of people wouldn't even know that it existed." He explained quickly.

"So what's your theory on this?" Al asked.

"Actually I have 2. 1: These people have been taking long holidays on distant planets or 2: They didn't go anywhere, they just changed their identities. I'm leaning towards the latter but why they would keep the old ones going at the same time, I don't know." Wells said.

"Insurance policy. If they die, the go back to being who they were originally and guys like you end up looking for a missing person that never existed."

"Like the car crash!" Wells clocked. "What really worries me though, is that to do this, to simply erase all this information from every major database in the world would not only take some serious resources, but they'd also need someone that could put their hands to that kind of information in the first place. Whoever these people are, they have connections very high up on the information food chain."

"That's not entirely unexpected," Albus said, looking again at the womans address on screen. "Maybe I'll go ask her how they do it."

Albus began walking towards the door.

"Hey, what's your name. Your real name I mean?" Wells asked quickly.

"Al."

That name wasn't exactly the one he'd been expecting.

==== ST. MUNGO'S HOSPITAL – LONDON – UK – NOVEMBER 16TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Aurora's unbandaged eye slowly began to open but it was a good 30 seconds before she was actually able to focus. The room seemed to be spinning very slowly and her joints felt both heavy and light at the same time.

"Hey Beautiful," Amelia smiled.

"Hey," Aurora whispered back.

"How ya feeling?"

"Woozy," Aurora smiled.

"They just brought you back from surgery. Re-constructing your ear drum. Sounds like it went pretty well." Amelia joked.

"Ha ha, I spos I can look forward to lots of ear jokes?" Aurora yawned.

"Oh, I'll never let you hear the end of it." Amelia laughed.

"Wonderful. Now I know how George Wealsey felt...,"

"Yeah, but the difference is, your gonna get your ear back."

Aurora, with great difficulty, managed to move her hand up to her face. There were less bandages than the last time she checked but most of the top left quarter was still wrapped up tight. Half of her wanted desperately to know just how bad it was while the other half couldn't bare to look.

Luckily the potions that were still swimming around in her system were enough to stop her anxiety from returning.

"Is Albus here?"

"No sweetie, you know where he is," Amelia said softly. She was acting like he was doing some kind of humanitarian work. "I'm afraid that your stuck with me for the moment."

There was a knock on the door and very hesitantly, Harry Potter entered the room.

"Hi, Harry," Aurora said not sounding the slightest bit please to see him.

"Hi. I heard that you were awake. I was hoping I'd be able to talk to you for a minute?"

"She just came out of surgery and needs to rest." Amelia said none to politely.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Harry glared. It wasn't long before he picked up on her pale skin and darkened eyes. A Vampire.

"A Friend of the family," Amelia smiled coldly.

Harry's eyes narrowed.

"It's alright Amelia. It's against the law to arrest someone in my condition." Aurora said.

"I'll be outsides. Remember, I'm right ear if you need me." She grinned.

"Stop making fun of me! I've been shot." Aurora smiled back.

Harry waited until Amelia had left the room and closed the door, although he was sure that she could still hear what would be said.

"You used the killing curse in Venice, didn't you."

"Yes." She said simply.

"Did it hit someone?"

"Yes."

"So your freely admitting that you murdered someone?" Harry knew it had to be some kind of trick.

"Yes I did. Self defense of course." She smiled sweetly.

"That doesn't matter. When it's an Unforgivable the rules are pretty clear."

"Rules, like bones, get broken a lot these days," She indicated her bandaged face. "besides, it's not me you need to worry about now."

"Really?"

"Well, I mean you covered up for him onces before. I'm sure you'll try and do it again. Of course this time might be a little more difficult to pull off."

Harry knew what she was talking about. "Aurora, do you know where my son is?"

"I just came out of surgery, Harry. Of course I don't."

Harry sighed. "Do you know what he's doing?"

"No. But I expect that he's in the middle of a killing spree by now." Aurora said tiredly.

"Don't joke about that kind of stuff!" Harry growled.

"Do you see me laughing?" She was acting like she didn't care in the slightest.

Harry's face turned white as a sheet. "He wouldn't...," He breathed.

"Wouldn't he? You can only push a man so far before he starts pushing back." She warned.

"He's doing this for you, isn't he?" Harry said accusingly. His voice was starting to rise.

"He's doing it for a lot of people. Mostly I think he's doing it for himself...so he doesn't have to be afraid anymore."

"Afraid?"

"Afraid of losing us. He knows he can't protect us all the time, so instead he's going to eliminate the threat -"

"What do you mean, Threat?!" Harry blurted.

"He's not like you, Harry. You always were the master of Defense Against the Dark Arts, but he doesn't do defense, he does offense. He can't pretend to have a normal life when he knows what hides in the shadows and he refuses to simply wait to be attacked. He's taking the war to them -"

"What War?! What the hell are you talking about?!"

"The longest war in history. The silent war, the one that goes on behind the scenes. The Evolutionary War. His species has been hunted almost to extinction but he won't let them die." Aurora said gravely.

Harry mind was racing with questions. "What do you mean, his species? Why have we never heard of this until now?"

"There were never many of them to begin with and after 1800 years of being hunted, they're almost gone completely. But, they've still managed to leave their mark on this world. You've seen them before, on TV, in comic books and movies. Anomalies. Evolved humans. The next step up from magic. I suppose you could call them...superheroes."

Harry was stunned speechless.

"Oh don't look so shocked, Harry. You've known the truth all along, you just didn't want to believe it."

It took him a full 30 seconds but eventually, the truth fell out of his mouth. "He's the Colossus...isn't he?"

"He's more than the Colossus. He's my Colossus," She smiled. "I love him and I'll support him through everything, not matter what he does. I'll even take the fall for him if that's what it takes."

"You have to help me, Aurora!" Harry was begging her and he didn't care. His pride or his animosity towards her and her family meant nothing anymore. Not when his son was at stake. "Please! We have to stop him from doing this!"

"He can't be stopped. Besides, he trying to prevent Genocide, most people would say that's heroic."

"There is nothing heroic about murder!"

"I think his own kind will disagree."

"HOW CAN YOU LET HIM DO THIS?!"

"Because I want them dead too!" Aurora growled back, not the slightest bit intimidated. "They murdered my parents! They did _this_ to me! My only regret is that I won't get to watch them suffer!"

"Your par...your fathers dead?" Harry stammered.

"Yes! Look on the bright side, Harry! One less murderer to worry about!" Aurora hissed.

Harry was panicking. A cold sweat was starting to wrap it's self around his body. He didn't know what to do. He needed air.

Amelia opened the door and walked inside, glaring daggers at him. Harry shuffled past her.

"Oh and Harry...," Aurora called. "Albus will show no mercy and he'll never stop. Try not to piss him off."

Harry couldn't speak. He bolted for the door like he was being chased by some invisible demon.

"Why the hell did you just tell him all of that?!" Amelia hissed.

"Because Albus told me too. He has a plan," Aurora smiled.

==== BANGOR – MAINE – USA – NOVEMBER 17TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Laura's car pulled up in the drive way of her suburban home. She certainly seemed to have a good income given the size of the house. She pulled out two shopping bags from the trunk of the car, locked it and headed towards the door.

As soon as her key hit the lock the sound of a dog barking came from behind the door.

"Calm down Tink, it's me and I got your food," She said, finally getting the lock open.

As soon as it opened, a small and very excited Pomeranian dog started jumping at her. Inside, the house looked like it belonged to a U.S. Senator of very rich C.E.O. Of a successful company. It had all hard wood floors, light cream walls and expensive furniture in every room. The carpets in the open living room looked brand new.

"Hello, hello," Laura spoke in baby talk to the fluffy little dog. "did you miss mommy?"

She immediately went into the kitchen and started emptying the bags out. The dog followed her, still trying to jump up. "Ahh, did daddy forget to feed you again?"

She quickly found a tin of dog food inside the bag, opened it and tipped it into a bowl of Tink. "There you go. See, mommy loves to you." She chimed as the dog began to dig in.

Once she finished packing away the very shopping items she walked into the hallway.

"Alice! Neil! I'm home!" She shouted towards the second floor but got no answer.

"They went out for ice cream," A cold voice said causing her to jump and spin around.

Fear shot up her spine.

In the open living room, Albus was sat in a comfy looking chair, staring directly at her. He smiled sadistically. "This is a lovely house. You seem to have settled into a wonderful life."

"Where is my family?" She whimpered.

"I told you, they went out for ice cream. So it's just me and you." He grinned menacingly again.

He picked up one of the small pictures on the table next to him. It was of a younger looking Laura, the day she graduated from medical school. Only at the bottom, the name read: Helen Stark.

Albus chuckled. "A doctor? So when your not killing people your saving them,"

"I could say the same about you." Her voice shook and her eyes were locked on Albus. She was too afraid to go for the gun that was tucked into the back of her trousers.

"Yeah, life is certainly stranger than fiction sometimes, isn't it?" Albus laughed. He looked around at the stylish home, glancing at the family pictures. Next to him was a picture of Laura with her husband and two children smiling back. He picked up the picture to look at it more closely.

"What a lovely looking family," His voice was so polite that it only terrified her even more.

"We-we didn't mean for her to get hurt -" Laura tried.

"You killed her parents. I know that hurt her."

"What do you want?"

"I hear that you have a little secret hideout. A club house where you all meet, chit chat, plays card, plot genocide, stuff like that. I want you to give me a tour." He smiled.

"I can't do that." She shivered.

"Now that's not very polite. Why can't you?"

"Un-unbreakable vow. We can't tell anyone or bring anyone there unless we're ordered to."

"Now, that's a shame. See I was planning to let you live but if your going to be uncooperative, well then -"

She panicked. "Look, I wasn't even there!"

"You knew about it and I'm guessing that you were the one that patched up the ones that made it out alive. Why don't you just tell me what I need to know and I'll fly out of your life."

"I can't…," She breathed. Tears were starting to form in her eyes.

"That's a shame. This world needs all the doctors it can get. Why don't you give me the name of someone that can tell me?" Albus's voice was cold and steeled. He was looking her directly in the eye, feeding off her fear.

"I can't…please…"

"Shh…do you really want your husband and your children to come home and find you splattered all over the house?" He showed her the picture then placed it back on the table next to him. "All I want is a name…"

"It's not that simple. If you kill him the next guy will just take over!"

"Well, I'll burn that bridge when I come to it." His sadistic smile hit her like a bucket of ice water. She had to act.

As fast as she could, she grabbed the gun from her trousers, pointed and fired.

Her heart skipped a beat.

The bullet had stopped in mid air, 3 inches from his head. It fell to the floor and rolled under the chair.

That same terrifying smile had crept back onto his face. "You really shouldn't have done that...,"

==== CLERIC'S TEMPLE – LOCATION UNKNOWN – NOVEMBER 17TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Alarms were ringing again.

"I got a hit!" The Tech shouted out. "Triangulating!"

Ethan and two others ran over to the computer.

"Bangor, Maine!"

"Jesus," Ethan breathed. "He found Laura!"

The three of them immediately took off down out of the viewing room and down the long stone corridor. They ran up to a door, leading to another room. Inside the room was completely bare except for a huge store cupboard at the end.

Ethan ran over and opened it up. Inside were hundreds of battery size port keys that they used to jump around the world with. Many of them were marked with small stickers of locations.

Ethan grabbed one marked Maine. The two other Cleric's grabbed hold of it as well and they instantly disappeared with a flash of blue light.

==== BANGOR – MAINE – USA – NOVEMBER 17TH – 2021 A.D. ====

The three Cleric's landed feet first on the pavement and pulled out their wand/batons. They had arrived only a block away from Laura's house. They immediately bolted down the street towards her driveway. As soon as they arrived, they spread out. Ethan moved straight up towards the front door while the other two moved around towards the back of the house.

With his weapon raised, he very slowly and gently turned the door handle. It was unlocked.

He opened it just enough to peak through the gap. The house seemed completely still and silent. As quietly as possible, he entered, his eyes scanning every inch of the area. He listened out for any sound of life.

He was given the fright of his life when Tink came around the corner and started barking at him.

"Shh!" He hissed causing the dog to seemingly get upset and return to where ever it came from.

Just down the hall, he saw the other two Cleric's enter through the back door. They were moving just as slowly and quietly as he was. He singled them to check the kitchen. Ethan proceeded towards the living room.

Everything looked normal. He was half expecting Laura to simply walk out of the bathroom or something and be shocked and surprised that they were in her house. Then something caught his eye...

A huge patch of crimson blood was stained into the carpet.

He crouched over the stain and dabbed his finger tips in it. Still warm.

A drop of blood hit the top of his hand. Ethan raised his head and looked up.

"Holy shit!" He breathed loudly.

The other Cleric's rushed into the room after hearing him. They looked up and gasped.

Laura had been nailed to the ceiling with a dozen different sized kitchen knives.

Her eyes were still wide open, frozen in her final moment of terror. Blood was still dripping from the wounds all over her body, increasing the size of the strain on the carpet.

Ethan snapped out of his shock. He pulled out his phone and hit speed dial.

"It's me. We're too late. She dead," He said, still breathing hard from the shock. "An accident? that's not gonna be very easy this time!... why?! Because he nailed her to the fucking ceiling! That's why! ... Fine! ... Just find away to stall her family!" Ethan hung up the phone.

"What are we doing?" One of the Cleric's asked.

"Same deal. Clean it up, make it look like an accident." He sighed after looking up again. "Get her down," He said to the others.

He turned to go and lock the front only to find himself face to face with Albus Severus Potter!

"I remember you!" He growled. "We met in Venice!"

He snapped his hand back and Ethan was thrown through the air and into the wall. The two others turned to fire. Just as they got off shots, they were blasted backwards by a gravity burst. The spells bounced of Albus's shield and collided with a mirror on the wall, shattering it instant.

"That's 7 years bad luck," Albus grinned. "don't worry, you won't live that long." He flicked his fingers causing the broken pieces of mirror to float effortlessly into the air.

They all turned so that their broken edges were all pointing in the same direction like a squadron of fighter jets. Another flick turned them into razor sharp bullets, shooting through the air.

Crimson liquid spray the back wall as the other Cleric ducked down to avoid them. He wasn't however, able to avoid the chair that Albus had just set hurling towards him. It smashed him in the ribs and sent sprawling across the floor.

Albus walked over to him and like a ton of bricks, brought his foot down on the man head. With a chilling crunch, the pressure of the impact was enough to stamp his life out forever.

Shots rang out through the air as Ethan pulled his gun and fired twice but Albus was way too quick and had already raised his hand. As before, the bullets had stopped in mid air. This time he didn't let them drop to the ground. He turned them around and fired them straight back at him.

The bullets connected with both of Ethan's legs causing him to scream in agony and fall to the ground. He desperately clutched hold of his wounds while the pain overwhelmed him. He tried to go for his gun again but it suddenly shot into Albus's hand.

He grinned sadistically as he crashed the weapon like an empty beer can. He discarded the broken gun and knelt next to Ethan, looking at his wounds. "Ooh, that's look nasty. You might want to have someone take a look at that. Is there a doctor in the house?" He looked up, pretending to be shocked at seeing Laura's body for the first time. "Oh, I'm afraid she's in surgery right now. Under the knife so to speak, but don't worry, I'll look after you."

Again, Albus was feeding off his fear. The merciless executions he had just performed had given him his much needed fix of vengeance but it wouldn't last long. Luckily he had his next one right there.


	25. Monsters Make Such Interesting People

==== MONSTERS MAKE SUCH INTERESTING PEOPLE ====

==== CLERIC'S TEMPLE – LOCATION UNKNOWN – NOVEMBER 18TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Marshall walked quickly through the darkened tunnels of the Temple until he reached the large steel door leading to the lab. He opened it and went inside, spotting Mathis in the process. He was leaning over and looking into a microscope, taking notes, then looking again.

He looked up as Marshall entered. "Any news about Ethan?"

"No. He'll turn eventually. Probably in several different pieces. I've order the Fidelius Charm changed on the safe house. Ethan was the secret keeper, now he's probably been tortured for information. He's killing us, one at a time." Marshall said gravely.

"We can't really be surprised, can we? How many of them have we killed, Marshall?"

"We are not the ones that will be responsible for Armageddon."

"Your right. It'll be one of them," Mathis said walking over to him. "just one. And yet we have practically eradicated their entire species. Just because of one. We can't pretend to be the victims here."

Marshall laughed. "You always did have a wonderful understanding of cause and effect."

"Comes with the job," Mathis said heading for the door. Together they began walking down another long corridor towards another large steel door.

"We always knew that the day would eventually come when we were forced to pay for our crimes." Mathis said indifferently.

"Of course, but it doesn't change what we're trying to stop," Marshall agreed as Mathis pushed open the door.

Inside the room were several other doors. Holding cells. Each cell had a large glass window for them to view the people inside them. All of the cells were empty and barren except for one.

Mathis and Marshall heading to the window of the only occupied cell.

"No matter what happens to us, we can't forget the damage they'll do. They have to be stopped," Marshall said looking through the window. Inside the cell was a man in his mid twenties with light brown hair. He had several restraints strapping him to a table and a IV drip being fed into his arm. The was kept sedated at all times. "If the world found out about Schizophrenic Pyromaniacs like this one, it would be chaos. You've brought down more of these things than anyone else, that's why I putting you in charge of stopping Albus."

Mathis looked shocked. "Me?"

"No one else has your experience,"

"No," Mathis said quickly. "I can't! I'm too busy here!"

"Still looking for your miracle cure? The final solution?" Marshall smiled.

"I'm close!"

"You've been close for 9 years Mathis! So far all you've managed to do is create a bunch of mutant rats! In the mean time, Albus Potter is on the war path!"

"These abilities are hard wired right into their genetic coding! Do you have any idea how difficult it is to separate the -"

"Exactly, you might never be able to do it! I don't need you sat in a Lab all day playing with rats, I need you out there, stopping the real problem!"

"You've still got Jack -"

"Jack!? He's lost it! He wants revenge Mathis, it's all he's thinks about! You know I can't send some loose cannon out there that's gonna do more harm than good! I need a professional and that's you!"

"I haven't been in the field in -"

"You went after him in Canada,"

"Yeah, because I thought he was dead!"

"Who else am I gonna send?"

"I can't...I'm sorry," Mathis began walking back to his lab.

"He's the one Mathis," Marshall said loudly causing Mathis to stop in his tracks. "the one we've been waiting for."

Mathis turned to face Marshall. "You don't know that."

"He's the closest candidate so far. We've seen powerful ones before Mathis but nothing like this. His behavior alone sets him apart from the others. He's gunning for us because of what happened to Lennox. Have you ever heard of one of them, especially one as powerful as he is, taking a witch for a mate?" Marshall's words seemed to strike a cord with Mathis. "He's different from the others and you know it."

Mathis looked away, trying to contemplate the possibility.

"We've waited 1800 years to kill this man. You can't back out now."

Mathis hesitated but then spoke. "Alright. One condition,"

Marshall was all ears.

"We bring him in alive." Mathis said firmly causing Marshall to laugh.

"Impossible! You'll never get him alive!"

"But if I could? We bring him in, you let me run some tests and we find out if it really is him. If it is, he goes in the ground and we all get to retire. Unless you want to just kill him, shut down the operation and then find out the hard way that we were wrong?"

Marshall nodded. "Okay, you think you can tag this bastard alive? Give it your best shot. But if for any reason it looks like it can't be done...You kill him on site."

"Agreed."

==== BANGOR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – MAINE – USA – NOVEMBER 18TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Ethan gradually began to come to. His entire body felt a hundred times heavier then it was but there was no pain what so ever. His leg wounds has been cleaned and were now covered with a white cloth. Blood had started seeping through it but he wasn't bleed nearly as badly as before.

He quickly realized that his was strapped to a chair, sitting in the middle of an old and disused warehouse.

The sound of airplanes taking off and landing could be heard in the distance. The whole area was dark and cold. The only light was coming from the landing lights outside. The beams from incoming aircraft were occasionally causing light to come through the broken windows.

Just in front of him, he could see is Wand/Baton and his wallet sitting on a small table.

It was only when he tugged at his restraints that he realized he couldn't actually feel a thing.

"Hi Ethan," Al's voice came from behind him.

"What are you doing to me?" Ethan could barely sound out any words.

"I thought we should have a little chat." Albus was standing about 30 feet away from him, using a small dirty sink to have a shave while he waited for Ethan to wake up.

"I can't feel my fingers."

"Well, because I've pumped you full of Phenobarbital." Al walked over, drying his clean shaven face with a wet cloth. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small syringe. "You see this? This'll counteract the sedative. If I put this in your IV, your nervous system will start to function as usual and then you'll start to feel the pain in your legs. And considering that I've been cleaning your wounds with Hydrogen Peroxide, it's really going to hurt." He smiled.

"You know I can't tell you anything," Ethan slurred.

"Well, see I've been thinking about that. You can't be sworn not to say everything because then you'd probably die from the first conversation you have. There's defiantly something that you can share with me."

"I can't...,"

"Well, maybe your minds a little slow at the moment. Let's see if we can't wake it up." Al grinned. He injected the syringe into Ethan's IV drip then sat down on the table in front of him. He started looking through Ethan's wallet while he waited of the counteractive to start kicking in.

"You know what really surprises me?" Albus said conversationally. "All of you people walk around like your normal most of the time. You got families, jobs and mortgages. You pretend to live ordinary lives until you get the call. Then you jump half way around the world and kill my species,"

Ethan could feel the sedative waring off. A strange and slightly unpleasant tingling sensation was creeping into his thighs.

"I mean, don't your families get suspicious when you say you have to go on yet another business trip?" Albus continued.

Ethan's breathing started to increase. The tickling sensation was starting to be replaced by a deep burning feeling that throbbed around his legs. He tried desperately not to show pain in front of Albus but it was quickly becoming agony.

"Oooh, tough little bastard, aren't cha?" Albus laughed at his attempts. "You know, if you can manage to stand the pain of those little scratches on your legs then I'm going to have to go for something a little more practical."

Ethan was sweating now. The pain from his legs was becoming intense.

"My personal favorite is what's known as the lightning nail," Albus came closer to Ethan. "see, what you do is you take a pair of long steel nails and you drive them into the guys legs. Right in so the tips touch the bone. Then you hook them up to the light switch. You flick the switch and they get a dose of a couple hundred volts through them. You see, the skeleton takes most of the charge which reduces the chances of causing accidental cardiac arrest,"

Ethan's eyes were wide and terrified and not just because of the agony that was emanating from his bullet wounds.

"Unfortunately, the location dictates the effectiveness of this. You can't use it in a lot of third world countries because they never have stable power grids. Unless you lug a generator around with you, but then you have to pay for petrol as well and we all know how expensive that is now. And since the lights in this place haven't been used for about a decade, it rules out using that kind of method."

Tears had begun to fall from Ethan's eyes.

"So, sometimes, you have to go back to the old fashioned ways. Pulling finger nails and teeth, slicing digits, breaking toes with a hammer, that sort of thing. But then you have to worry about blood lose and the person passing out. So you tip gasoline, again expensive, into the wounds to make sure they don't pass out. It's very loud, it's very messy and a lot of accidentally deaths often occur. Then there's things like acid drips, cutting, burning, beating, but again, very messy,"

"Please...," Ethan breathed is horror. Albus ignored him but had already begun to feel his buzz. Ethan's fear was pulsating around the warehouse. He could smell it.

"In the end, the best way is to find the pressure point. The sweet spot. The source to cause maximum pain, minimum damage."

"Please...I have a family...,"

"You do? So do I! Wait...," Albus pulled a small picture from Ethan's wallet. "are you...are you offering me your family in exchange for your life?"

"NO! No! Please!"

"That's what it sounded like! Maybe I should go and visit this very pretty wife of yours," He waved the picture in front of his face absorbing Ethan's fear. "maybe she knows something she'd be willing to share?"

"NO!"

"You didn't hesitate to try and kill my girl, why shouldn't I kill yours?" Albus growled.

"It was an accident! We were there for you! We don't like what we do, but we have to!" Ethan cried.

"Why!? Why do it at all?!"

"Because of what you'll do! There's a Prophecy!"

"I've already heard this!," Albus roared and laid a punch into Ethan's left leg right over his bullet wound. He screamed in agony. "One of my kind will start the Apocalypse right? I find that very unlikely! We may have superhuman abilities but that means fuck all with out a world to live in! So why would one of my kind want to destroy it?!"

"No...not them...you...," Ethan was breathing so heavily he could barely speak. "it's you...your the one...,"

"Me? I'm going to cause the end of the world?" Albus laughed.

"Yes!"

Albus looked at Ethan like he had just told a bad joke. "I'm not a great fan of Armageddon so I think I'll give that one a miss and if your determined to be unhelpful then I'll go see if your wife will be more accommodating," Albus began to walk away from Ethan.

"NO!" Ethan screamed. "17...Parker Street...Cambridge...,"

"And that's were your Machine is?"

"No...safe house. It's under the Fidelius Charm...," Ethan sobbed.

"You better not be lying to me,"

"I'm not! Please, don't hurt my family...they're nothing to do with this...,"

"Thanks for your help," Albus smiled. He walked over to the large black bag that was sitting by the sink and pulled out a small block of C4 with a detonator attached to it. "Okie dokie, well, it's off to the next life for you my friend," He primed the detonator. "no need to threat. You won't be lonely where your going and even if you are, don't worry, I'll be sending you some company real soon."

Albus placed the C4 in Ethan's lap. The timer had already started ticking away from 60 seconds. "Here," Albus dropped the picture of Ethan's family over the count down timer. "Say goodbye,"

He headed for the exit. He headed outside and checked the sky for incoming aircraft before blasting himself into the air. Just as he did, the entire warehouse exploded in a ball of fire.

==== MINISTRY FOR MAGIC – LONDON – UK – NOVEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====

The Ministers office wasn't usually this quiet.

They were all sitting in silence. Harry had just repeat Aurora's revelation to them. Both Ron and Teddy looked like they had witnessed someone exposing themselves in the middle of the Atrium. Harry looked ready to crumble on the spot while Hermione was battling with her conscious and whether or not to tell them that she had suspected Albus from the very beginning.

"So...," Ron mumbled. "Albus was the one in the warehouse?"

Harry nodded faintly.

"He can fly...," Teddy breathed.

"She said that these...Anomalies, had been around for thousands of years?" Hermione asked carefully.

"Yes,"

"Well that's impossible! We would know about them!" She was in full logic mode. The idea that Albus was some kind of super powered being was hard enough to grasp but the idea that there was an entire community of them out there was beyond belief.

"They've been hunted. Almost to extinction," Harry repeated absently.

"But...," Hermione was trying desperately to open her mind wide enough to form a theory but it simply wasn't happening. "there would have been some kind of trace of them! I mean, Albus -"

"Albus was never normal," Harry cut her off. "he could never use magic, he refused to speak when he was a child, he had a connection to nature...like it respected him...," Harry looked Hermione in the eye. "he's always been this way."

"You've got to tell Gin!" Ron declared.

"And what exactly am I suppose to tell her Ron? By the way dear, our son is an evolved human with abilities that we can't imagine and is doing his very best to become a mass murderer at the moment, what for dinner?!" Harry hissed.

"He's her kid too, Harry! You have to tell her something!"

"I KNOW!"

There was a knock at the door that broke the rapidly anger filled scene. Percy Weasley poked his head through the door. His face was pale white. "Harry...you need to hear this!" He sounded scared.

They rushed out of the door towards Percy's desk where the wireless was broadcasting.

_'...Again these are unconfirmed reports but WWN has obtained exclusive information that Harry James Potter and the Ministry Auror Department are in fact searching for Albus Severus Potter who is wanted in connection with several brutal murders...'_

Harry almost passed out. Panic washed over his entire body. The whole wizarding world knew!

"How the fuck did they find out?!" Ron yelled.

_'Evidence gathered at the scenes of the crimes has indicated that the second child of the Boy-Who-Lived may be responsible. Albus Potter has not been out of the news for a long time now. At the end of his third year at Hogwarts, rumors began to circulate that he was responsible for the death of Professor Ian Lithgo but no charges were brought forward. Albus had reportedly suffered extreme mental anguish from Dark Magic use against him during that year which may have directly effected his stability. Shortly after, he was admitted to St. Mungo's for a rare and unknown infection that caused him to age rapidly although he was said to still be in good physical health at the time. He was allowed to return to Hogwarts under strict medical observation. During his Christmas break from Hogwarts, Albus apparently suffered a mental breakdown and ran away from his home in Petham. After an 11 month absence from the Wizarding World, Albus Potter returned, seriously wounded after an apparent attack in Venice, Italy. Albus managed to escape custody from Ministry officials during his interrogation and once again vanished. Now, several unnamed men and women that may have been part of that attack have been found murdered...'_

Harry's legs gave out. He had actually done it. He was killing them.

He didn't know what to do. Albus was the Colossus. Even if he found him, how could he possibly stop him? The Colossus is the most powerful being on the planet. Even Voldemort would have been too afraid to say his name aloud.

Harry shook the doubt from his head. It didn't matter. Colossus or not, he was his son and he couldn't let him destroy his own life.

He had to find him!

He picked him self off the floor. "Pull in everyone that we have. I want them searching the entire country for him!" Harry commanded.

"Harry...he can fly...he's not likely to stay in one place for too lon -" Teddy said delicately.

"Then put out called to international governments, request cooperation. He's my son, I'll be the one to stop him!"

==== CLERIC SAFE HOUSE – CAMBRIDGE – UK – NOVEMBER 23RD – 2021A.D. ====

Every single one of the 17 Cleric's that were in hiding inside the house were terrified and had gathered at the living room windows. They were all staring out across the street.

"What's he doing?" A Cleric asked. Her name was Lisa. She was short and young with brown hair and a small scar on her cheek.

"Trying to figure out where we are. He knows we're here, he just can't find us." Another answered.

"It's freaking me out!" Lisa whined.

"He wants to come in here and kill us all! It's freaking us all out!"

Across the street, like a relentless predator, Albus was simply waiting for one of them to try and leave the protection of the safe house. Sitting on the wall behind him was his 'bag of trick' or more accurately, bag of heavy firepower! He was on his third cigarette so far and had been trying to figure out a way around the Fidelius Charm for the last 30 minutes.

Although it was a very powerful protective charm, it wasn't infallible. The wizarding world was very good at bending the laws of physics but it couldn't break them. The safe house was definitely there, sandwiched between the two buildings in front of him. The left building was a disused dry-cleaners that looked like it had gone bust recently, the other was a textiles shop and somewhere between the two, were his targets. He just had to figure out a way to get inside.

Albus knew how wizards thought. Despite the fact that it was seen as a crime to be intolerable of Muggle ways, wizards still thought them selves better than the rest of the world. Even if they did say it. They were so sure that their magic was the final word when it came to protection and hiding. They never believed that a Muggle could find a loop hole.

It was that smug superiority that would give him is opening. He simply had to find it. He had to figure out what they hadn't thought of. Not just the Cleric's, but the people that had created the charm in the first place. What could they have never conceived in their wildest dreams? That's where he's find his entrance.

For all of about 3 seconds he entertained the idea of re-creating the same vortex that he made in Canada but quickly ditched that plan after Aurora's warnings echoed through his mind again. But he was on the right path. Something out of this world and impossible. Something they couldn't possibly be protected against.

Then divine intervention came to his rescue in the form of a beautiful white door shining in his mind.

Albus grinned. It was so simple and that's probably the reason that no one had ever tried it before.

He dropped his cigarette on the ground and stubbed it out.

Despite the fact that he was in the middle of a busy city in broad day light, he started pulled weapons out of the bag. His hung the fully loaded shotgun over his shoulder and then took out the assault rifle. He also tucked the machine pistol into his belt, then flung the rifle over his free shoulder.

He walked over to the nearest vehicle; An old blue Ford Focus.

He picked the car up like it was a nothing but a large cardboard cutout, aim and lunch it at the divide between the two buildings with the force of a canon shell!

"INCOMING!" Lisa screamed as the Cleric's leaped out of the way.

The car smashed straight through the wall and into the living room, destroying everything in its path like blue wrecking ball! It smashed into the back wall where it stopped and slumped.

On the outside, just as he thought, everything looked exactly the same. The car had disappeared into thin air without a trace.

"Knock knock." Albus grinned.

Keeping his eyes pinned on the spot that it had vanished, he ran forwards, jumping straight at the hole.

He passed through the enchanted barrier and landed in the middle of the destroyed living room. Straight away he spotted several Cleric's desperately trying to gather weapons and find cover.

"I hope you guys don't mind, I let my self in!" He smiled, pulling the rifle off his shoulder.

Gun shots and spells rained through the air as the Cleric fired everything they had at him. He immediately returned fire, taking out one of them standing in a doorway. A span a peppered bullets through a second that was crouching behind the busted Focus.

Flashes of green light shot around the room, bouncing off his shield and destroying even more of the living room. He sprayed the entire room with the rifle until it clicked empty. He dropped it and at the same time spun the shotgun off his shoulder.

He it rip, firing off shells towards anything that moved.

Three Cleric's ducked for cover, running through a door way into another part of the house. He didn't bother with the door. Al didn't bother with the door, he simply smashed his way through the wall.

The dust and rubble from the hole he just created gave him all the help he needed. They fired shots off but weren't even close. Al dropped them one at a time with some fine shotgun work.

The 12-gauge snapped empty. As soon as it did, 5 of them ran at him, trying to take him on while he wasn't armed.

Albus laid a punch so powerful into the chest of his first attack, it send him flying straight through the wall behind him. A second swiped at him with his baton claws. Al dodged the attack, grabbed hold of him and through him into a third attack, knocking him off balance.

By the time he regained himself, he had a split second to see Al's fists closing in on both sides of his head. A red cloud erupted and the headless corpse dropped to the floor.

More gun fire came in the form of another Cleric trying to shoot him at point blank range. The bullets simply bounce off like they were being fired from a potato gun! A second later, he breathed his last breath.

The sound of cluttering wood grabbed Al's attention. He turned to see 5 Cleric's making a break for it out of the whole in the wall. Albus growled. This party wasn't over until he said so!

The 5 Cleric's ran straight to towards the Silver Porsche Cayenne parked just down the street. Panicking they simply used their wands to unlock the machine and got inside. They locked the doors and one of them used their wand to start it up.

The moment the engine revved he gunned the gas but the SUV wasn't going anywhere. The wheels screeched and smoke bellowed as he put his foot down but it still was moving. They all looked up to see Albus directly in front of the car, that trademark sadistic grin on his face.

"Car trouble lads?"

They tried to get out but even though they unlocked the doors, they would open.

Albus walked up to the front bumper. "Let me see if I can help!" Albus placed his hand on the bonnet and the metal began to screech and moan.

Suddenly, like it had just been hit b a meteor, the SUV pancaked it's self into the street! Like a million tonnes of rock had just fallen on top of it.

Passers by looked on in confusion, trying to understand what they just saw. Albus ignored them and simply looked at the 2 inch high twisted mass of crush metal. "There goes your no claims bonus!" Albus smiled and started walking back to the safe house.

He re-entered, through the hole. As soon as he did, more gunfire came at him from the top of the stair case.

Al pulled his machine pistol and return fire. The remaining Cleric's managed to duck out of the way and ran up to the second floor.

Knowing there was no way out from up there, unless they decided to jump from a second story window, he moved up slowly, savoring the moment.

"Little pigs, little pigs, I've come to nick ya X-Box!"

Despite the carnage that had just taken place downstairs, the second floor corridor was quiet.

"Come out, come out where ever you are...," Albus listened carefully. It wasn't long before he picked up the faint sound of heavy breathing from a room at the end of the corridor. "I can heeeaarrr you."

Some one, a woman, let out a whimper at that.

"You can't hurt me. Why don't you just come out and we'll talk like civilized people?" Albus called out.

He didn't expect an reaction to that but to his surprise the floor boards creaked and Lisa stepped out of the room at the back. She dropped her wand on the floor and simply stood there, trying desperately to hide her fear. Albus would had to admit it but he was actually impressed with her guts.

He knew that the other Cleric hiding in the same room was waiting to jump out a hope to get a shot off but it still took a lot of courage to stare death in the face. She was young as well, probably no more than 20 years old. Albus smiled.

Just then, as expected, the other Cleric jumped out, pushed Lisa out of the way and fired off three bullets at Albus. He didn't bother stopping the bullets this time. He simply curved gravity so they moved around and flew straight back in the direction that they had been fired from.

The Cleric hit the floor with three holes in his chest. Lisa looked more terrified than ever but still managed to look into his eyes. She had big, light brown eyes.

"You weren't at Venice were you?" Albus asked.

"No...I'm new...," She whispered.

"I think you chose the wrong line of work," Albus smiled. She was thinking the same thing.

He walked over to her. She tried to back up but hit the end wall of the corridor. He continued to move forward until he was so close that he could kiss her.

Instead he simply raised his forefinger and very slowly pointed to her chest. He touched the tip of his finger to her cleavage. An ear splitting scream filled the air and Lisa's body seized up. It was a thousand times worse than the Crusiatus Curse.

He took his finger away. "That's your heart being squeezed by gravity," She was breathing heavily and had teared running down her face. "hurts, doesn't it?"

"Yes!" Lisa cried.

"Can you tell me where the Machine is?" Albus asked, watching the horrified girl.

She shook her head.

"Too bad,"

The sound of a ring tone echoed through the corridor. Lisa's phone was playing a popular pop song from the charts. Albus reached over, pulled the phone from her pocket and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hello Albus." Mathis voice said.

"Ahh," Albus smiled. "I was wondering why you didn't send any backup...still, I don't mind that you left me alone to play with your friends...So would this be the illusive mastermind of this operation?"

"No, I'm not that high up the food chain. You've been busy," Mathis spoke.

"Boys will be boys."

"Did you leave any of them alive?" Mathis asked.

Albus covered the receiver with his hand and turned to Lisa. "What's your name?"

"L-lisa." She sniffed.

"Lisa's right here, keeping me company." Al said down the phone.

"You do know that she had nothing to do with Venice right? And she's only 19,"

"Yeah, you guys hook em young, don't cha?"

"How do we sort this out, Albus?" Mathis asked.

"Well..., you guys could impersonate a bunch of lemmings and jump of a really big cliff. Then I'd call it square," Albus laughed causing Lisa to shudder.

"Out of all the people you've killed, only 6 of them were in Venice. That makes you a monster as well, Albus." Mathis said sweetly.

"I can live with that," Albus said easily. "as long as you don't,"

"So, it's revenge your after? Maybe I can help you get it...,"

Albus looked both amused and bewildered. "What exactly are you saying?"

"6 Down, 2 to go. Then you've got everyone that is responsible for what happened to Aurora -"

"You don't get to say her name!" Albus roared suddenly causing Lisa to jump.

"I can get you one of them...how about a trade?" Mathis offered, unshaken by Albus's threat.

"That depends...which one will you give me?"

"Jack,"

Albus thought for a second. His eyes shot from left to right and his brain interpreted the offer. "In exchange for?"

"Lisa, of course. She's been with us less then 6 weeks. She's nothing to you, never even been out on assignment -"

"Assignment? Is that what you call murdering my entire species!?" Albus growled.

"We're professionals,"

"Well this is personal!"

"I gathered. But it's only going to stay personal as long as you go for the right people."

"Let me get this straight..., you're offering me the lives of your co-workers in exchange for this little girl?" Albus laughed.

"Not just her. We just want you to go away Albus. I see a way that you can get your revenge and we don't have to worry about you anymore. What do you think?"

"I think it's bullshit. You pal Ethan told me that I'm the one you've been looking for. I'm special." Albus chimed.

"Really?" Mathis answered instantly. "was that before or after you started sticking kitchen knives into him?"

"Oh, he was a lot easier than that," Albus grinned. "started singing like a little birdy the moment I came near him,"

"He had a nervous disposition. It doesn't change my offer,"

Albus thought for a second. He looked a the terrified girl that was shaking in front of him while his brain worked overtime.

"Well?" Mathis voice asked.

"Midnight, Cherry Hill, Central Park, New York and I want you there as well," Albus said quickly.

"That wasn't part of the deal."

"I'm negotiating."

"Why do you want me there?" Mathis asked.

"Well, you sound like a smart guy, I just wanted to meet you."

"If I thought for a second that that was true, I would have actually turned up. But don't worry, Jack will be there. I'll make sure of it. Meanwhile, try to be nice to Lisa. She's a sweet kid."

The line went dead.

Albus turned to look at Lisa who was still crying. "Well, it seems to be your lucky day. Unless your afraid of flying of course?" He smiled.

==== CENTRAL PARK – NEW YORK – USA – NOVEMBER 24TH – 2021 A.D. ====

The park was all but deserted. The cold air and poor lighting gave the whole place an eerie feel, like waiting to be attacked.

Lisa had her arms wrapped around herself for warmth as she stood next to the large fountain out in the open. During the day, musicians would often line up and play for money at that spot, but tonight it was going to be the site of life trade.

She thought about making a run for it but knew she wouldn't get far if she did.

"Lisa," A voice said from the shadows. Jack Daggra stepped out slowly looking around. "are you alright?"

Lisa nodded sadly. He was saving her life at the cost of his own.

"Oh she's just fine Jack," Al's voice rang out although no one could see him. "Walk over to the fountain,"

Jack obeyed.

"It was nice meeting you Lisa. You can go now," Al's voice said.

Lisa hesitated as Jack approached her.

"You don't have to do this!" She whispered.

"Yes, I do. Go!" Jack ordered.

Lisa took off in the direction that Jack had come from.

For a few seconds Jack seemed to be alone. He looked around the area expecting to see Albus walk out from the darkness but he didn't. The sound of twigs snapping caused Jack to spin around but he still saw nothing.

He turned again. "Boo!"

Jack fell backwards in shock. Albus had somehow appeared right behind him crouching on top of the fountain wall. Daggra picked him self off the floor.

"You know, most of you guys turn into whiny little bitches when you know your about to die. Your not going to do that are you Jack?" Albus grinned and stepped off the fountain.

Jack simply stared him down.

Albus began circling him like a hungry shark. "Ooh, your a ballsy one too. How many of ya friends did you bring?"

"None," Jack spat.

"I think your lying," Albus continued to circle. "it's a shame. We could have just kept this between us. Me and you guys. But you just had to do it didn't ya..., you had to get her involved!"

Jack stayed tight lipped but didn't let Al out of his site.

"You hit the wrong target,"

"I could say the same about you," Jack hissed.

"Oh no, no, no, no, you're the ones that made this personal! You crossed the line! I just followed you over it!" Al chimed.

"You gonna yap all night or are you gonna kill me?" Daggra taunted.

Albus laughed. "Well, if you insist,"

He lunged, grabbing Jack by the throat and lifting him into the air. His grip began to constrict his windpipe. He wanted to choke the life out of him. He wanted to smell his fear. But something was odd. Whatever that scent was, it didn't smell like fear.

Suddenly his grip loosened but Jack's eyes had already rolled into the back of his skull.

Albus felt dizzy, light headed. He let go of Daggra as his vision began to blur. He looked down to see a small clear vial in Jack's hand. A slightly smoky looking vapor was pouring from it's uncorked top.

It was trap!

"Ahhhh shit!" Al slurred before hitting the deck, out cold. Jack slumped right next to him.

After a few seconds, 2 dozen men and women all wearing gas masks and armed to the teeth began to come out of the shadows.

"We got him, he's down!" One reported over the radio.

"Get him into stasis right now!"

One of the masked troops walked over to Jack and injected him with a small syringe. His eyes flickered open and he started coughing.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine!" He looked over to see several Cleric's bringing what looked like a massive steel coffin with some kind of computer controls on the side of it. One of them quickly opened it and began fiddling with the buttons on the side while a few others carefully loaded Albus inside it.

Jack looked down at his own hands to see them bubbling and changing. A few seconds later, his skin began to darken and a few wrinkles appeared on his face.

It was only a minute or two before the Polyjuice potion completely wore off, revealing Mathis.

"Get him back to the Temple right now," He ordered. "and nobody tells Jack about this!"


	26. Matriarch

==== MATRIARCH ====

==== HOGWARTS – SCOTLAND – UK – DECEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Rose had begun her traditional nervous pacing back and forth around the Headmasters office. Hugo looked almost like he was being hypnotized by it. Scorpius, James, Lily, Lynx and Violet however just looked annoyed. Tannis was far too deep into his own thoughts to even notice.

Albus's prolonged absence had begun to take it's toll on them after a week. Now it had been almost 4 and nerves were running high.

"Babe?" Scorpius said causing her to look up. "Your doing it again."

"Doing what?" Rose snapped.

"Trying to walk a hole in the floor!"

"I'm sorry! I'm trying to think of a way to help my cousin!" She hissed.

"We don't know that he's in trouble." James voice sounded sure but his eyes were deceiving. He was as worried as Rose was.

"It's been almost four week! And there hasn't been one single sighting or report about him anywhere!"

"Rose, maybe he has his reasons," Violet tried. "let's not forget that your parents disappeared for an entire year when they were trying to stop Voldemort!"

"They had to! They weren't bullet proof! They couldn't fly! And they certainly weren't a one man bloody army!" Rose huffed. "Why wouldn't he would as least let us know that he's okay?!"

"Headmaster!" Armando Dippets portrait yelled. "Intruders!"

Everyone, including Tannis looked up to see Lincoln and Amelia walking through the door of the the office.

"We wouldn't be intruding if your damn Gargoyles would've opened the door!" Amelia said.

"I'm sorry Headmaster," Armando's portrait pleaded in shock. "he walked right through the wall!"

"I'm sure it's quite alright Armando," Dumbledore's portrait said happily. "I've no doubt that the headmaster was expecting this visit,"

"Indeed I was Albus and I must remember to inform the relevant people of the new passwords," Tannis made a mental note. "So?"

"Nothing," Lincoln sighed. "I've talked to everyone I know, nobodies heard anything!"

"This kind of disappearance...it's their style," Amelia worried.

"Let's not count my brother out just yet," Lily spoke up. "let not forget what he can do. What he's already done."

Both James and Rose looked impressed and inspired by her confidence. Lily had always been the quiet one in these kinds of circumstances but she seemed completely certain that Albus would be okay. Somehow, it had actually lifted their spirits.

"Your right, Lily," Lincoln agree. "Short of Aurora's old man, Albus is the toughest son of a bitch I've ever seen. If he is in trouble, he'll get out of it!"

"Well, I'm not doubting that!" Amelia sighed. "But considering the resources we have -"

"Amelia!" Lincoln cut her off.

"I'm just saying! He picked a hell of a time to do a Houdini!"

"Err...who are you guys talking about?" Hugo asked.

"No one!" Lincoln and Amelia growled at the same time.

"It doesn't sound like no one!" Lynx jumped in.

"Look, you wanna know anything, you talk to Sophia when she gets here!" Lincoln scowled.

"Sophia's coming here?" Tannis breathed is shock.

"Yeah,"

"Wait, is this the bird that's really really old?" Hugo blurted.

"Yes!" Amelia snapped.

"But looks young?"

"Yes!" She now looked ready to bite him.

"Is she fit?" Hugo asked absently.

"For crying out loud, Hugo!" Scorpius exclaimed.

"Can I eat him please?!" Amelia asked Lincoln in all seriousness.

"I wouldn't advise it, you don't know where he's been!"

"I'm sorry," Hugo smiled. "but that sounded so sexy!"

"That's it!" Amelia began charging towards Hugo!

"COULD EVERYONE," Tannis yelled causing Amelia to stop. "calm down! I know we are all worried and frustrated by the situation, but killing each other isn't going to help!"

"Err...headmaster?" Armando's portrait interrupted. "You have another visitor. This one also does not know the password but apparently cannot walk through walls either,"

"Let them in," Tannis said looking towards the office entrance.

Lincoln sniffed the air and as he did, a smile crept onto his face. The office door opened.

Although she still looked slightly frail, she was nevertheless still a picture of beauty. In some strange way, she seemed to almost glow.

"Aurora!" Lynx ran over to the entrance and hugged her best friend.

When they looked closer they saw that Aurora had purposely combed her hair over the left side of her face, covering what ever damage still remained. She obviously wasn't comfortable showing her battle scars just yet.

"I thought you weren't suppose to be out of the hospital yet?!" Amelia growled accusingly.

"I didn't like sitting around doing nothing," Aurora admitting.

"Are you sure your alright?" Violet asked.

"I'm fine...well...as fine as I can be,"

Tannis walked over and embraced Aurora like a father.

"I'm glad your okay," He whispered.

"Erm...I'm not sure if I should stay here. I sort of left without telling anyone. They're probably looking for me already." Aurora said sheepishly.

"Really?" Tannis smiled and looked over his shoulder. "Albus, have you seen Miss Lennox lately?"

"Yes," Dumbledore smiled. "A very friendly portrait a spoke to told me that he had spotted her in France, not far from Beauxbatons."

"Oh, I see," Tannis joined in with facade. "What about you Severus?"

On his portrait, Snape face tightened up, making him look like he had just swallowed a very sour sweet. "I heard the same headmaster," His obligation to the current Headmaster of Hogwarts forced him to lie.

"Ah, well, I'll inform the Auror's then. Meanwhile, I'm sure we can get you set up in Albus's room," Tannis suggested.

"Thank you," Aurora smiled. "Where is Albus? Is he here?"

The room dropped into an uncomfortable silence.

"What's happened?!" Aurora demanded.

==== CLERIC'S TEMPLE – LOCATION UNKNOWN – DECEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Marshall quickly approached Mathis' Lab with Lisa in toe. They pushed through the steel doors to find Mathis running around his lab frantically.

"Alright, what so important?!" Marshall asked immediately.

"Your not gonna believe this!" Mathis replied in excitement. "Look!"

He ran over to his computer and started pushing keys rapidly.

"I've been going out of mind trying to figure this out!"

"We know! Do you actually have anything for us this time?" Marshall asked.

"Yes!" Mathis exclaimed. "Alright, so we run dozens of scans on him, measuring everything from blood temperature to synaptic activity. We know he's had a Hyper-cognition implant because of all the fibrotic scaring along the cortex. And with the amount of neural cross firing that going on inside that head of his, we know it was a big one!"

"Yes, I've sent some people to see Lao. He's the only one capable of doing an implant that size," Marshall nodded.

"Exactly! But that is the only difference I was able to find! You take that away and he is exactly the same as all the others!" Mathis said quickly.

"We already know that," Lisa sighed.

"I know! And that's why I've been stumped ever since we got him here! But then I had an epiphany!" Mathis punched a few other keys and brought up an over head picture of a man lying on his back. "This entire time we've been looking at brain activity, blood chemistry, genetic coding... We've been looking in the wrong place," He hit one final key and the image changed.

"I recalibrate the wards in his cell to pick up on unknown energy levels, then cross referenced it with some of the data in the Ministry archives and this is what I got...,"

The picture was in fact a birds eye view of the other Anomaly that they had looked up in a cell just down the hall from them. There was, what looked like a white firework sitting in the middle of his chest, spitting out light in every direction.

"What is that?" Lisa breathed.

"His soul," Mathis smiled.

Marshall looked amazed. "You found a way to scan his soul?"

"I created a scan template based on some of the information on Soul Fire in the restricted section of the Ministry archives to read all the energy coming off his body. I don't know how accurate it is, it still need a lot of work. It took 3 days just to convert the readings into data, but...I think that is his...life force...," Mathis explained.

"That's incredible!" Lisa gasped.

"That's not all. This is Vanguards scan. This...," He pushed a few keys. "is Albus's."

The outline of Albus body was still visible but the rest had been obscured by a huge white pulsing energy that was emanating from the center of his chest. It looked almost like liquid made of light. This was at least 3 times stronger and brighter than the first.

"I can't even get a proper scan because his readings pegged everything off scale! This is the scan before the readings became so strong that the template couldn't actually interpret them anymore." Mathis said.

They stared at the picture in silence for a few seconds.

"How is that possible?" Marshall asked.

"My first guess would be...love," Mathis admitted. "he's in love. But...even thought that would intensify his readings, it wouldn't do this. I mean at the moment, it's like he's got a damn fusion reactor in his chest!"

"He really is one of them," Lisa breathed. "one of the Twins!"

"I can't confirm that yet," Mathis admitted. "I want to go back to the Ministry and gather all available information on Soul Fire, then I can design a better template and we can get a more accurate reading,"

"What's the point?!" Lisa objected. "It's him! We should kill him now!"

"These are inaccurate readings! It could be a glitch in the template, a malfunction or problem while interpreting the data!" Mathis looked Marshall in the eye. "We have to be sure!"

"Your right, we do," Marshall agree causing Lisa to look outraged. "Go to the Ministry, take an escort, they've heightened security recently, I want constant updates on this Mathis!"

"Alright!" Mathis said, grabbing a few things then rushing out of the door.

Lisa rubbed her face, still pissed.

"You don't approve?" He asked.

"Are you kidding me?! Albus is the one! We can't take the chance -"

"Chance of what, Lisa? Even if he is, we still have a whole year. If he's not, we'll kill him and go back to work."

"Your making a mistake!"

"This discussion is over!" Marshall growled causing Lisa to storm out of the room.

Lisa power walked down the corridor until she came into the enormous main hall of the temple. The huge flood lights still shining at the ceiling caused her to squint her eyes. He leaned against the wall and rubbed her eyes still frustrated at Marshall's reckless decision.

Through the light, she spotted the silhouette of a man, sitting on top of a table. It was Jack. Dangerous thoughts entered her mind and she began walking over to him.

He looked terrible. Pale and unshaven and still stinking of booze.

"Jack?" She asked carefully.

"What do you want, Lisa?" He growled without looking up.

"There's something you should know...,"

He seemed not to give a shit.

"They caught Albus,"

Now he looked up. Dead into her eyes as if to threaten her with death if she was joking or mistaken.

"...3 weeks ago...,"

"What?!" Jack roared.

"We were ordered not to tell y -" Her voice was cut off by his hand that had clamped around her throat.

His eyes were practically bleeding with anger. "Where is he?" He hissed through gritted teeth.

"H-holding cell 1!" She gasped.

"Give me your weapon!"

Lisa immediately took out her pistol and handed it to him. Jack snatched it and let go of her throat. He charged his way towards the holding cells.

He moved down the corridors, straight past Mathis' Lab and towards the steel doors. He walked into the holding cells and sure enough, there was Albus, still locked in his stasis coffin, not moving an inch.

Jack pushed the unlock code into the key pad beside the door and entered.

For a second he didn't even know if it was him or not. His doubts had come from his memories of Albus Potter. The wild, mindless powerhouse that had managed to fight his way out of an ambush in Venice. That had managed to gun down 11 of there people, crush 5 inside a car and murder his unarmed brother!

How could that monster of a man, simply be lying there?

In a minute or so it wouldn't matter. Jack pushed a few of the buttons on the side of the stasis coffin causing the top to open. He pointed the pistol straight at Albus's head.

"Wake up!" He growled.

He didn't move.

"WAKE UP!"

Albus was only able to open his eyes a fraction of the way.

"You remember me? You remember my BROTHER?! When you see him...you tell him I sent you!"

The shot rang out through the cell, the corridors and all the way back into the main hall.

Jack's eyes had gone wide, but so had Al's

The bullet had stopped less than 3 inches from Albus's head. Then came the sadistic grin.

"Thanks for the invitation, Jack," The bullet dropped to the floor. "couldn't have found the place without you!"

A blast of energy hit Jack in the chest sending him smashing into the wall. He slummed as he hit the floor.

Albus's restraints broke them selves off and he sat up, wide awake, still grinning. He watched Jack attempt to reach for the weapon but it had already shot through the air and into Al's hand.

He casually walked out of the open cell door, flicking his hand, causing it to slam shut behind him. He walked around to the glass window and watched Jack pick him self up.

"Nice place you got here," Albus taunted.

"YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Don't go anywhere, Jack. You and me are gonna be spending a lot of time together." Albus gave him one more monstrous smile, still reveling in the fact that his plan had worked perfectly before walking out of the holding cell. Jack was in a frenzy, slamming him self against the glass and screaming in rage.

Unfortunately, the air tight rooms made it impossible to pick up the scent of the other Anomaly, that lay in a medically induce coma only a few cells down.

Albus walked down the corridor, spinning the pistol on his forefinger as he went.

He peaked through the door to the Lab. It was empty inside but several machines were hard at work performing their automated duties. Dozens of rats at the end of the room squeaked and shuffled around in their cages.

"Hmm," Albus was actually slightly impressed by the set up.

He continued down the corridor until he came to a second steel door. He opened it and looked inside. Nothing but an empty room, except for one massive metal cupboard at the end. He walked towards it and opened it.

Hundreds and hundreds of marked and unmarked port keys stared back at him. It certainly explained how they were able to move around so quickly.

He left the room and approached the next set of doors. These ones were marked. _Armory. _

He went inside and looked around. The place was filled to the brim with almost every kind of muggle weapon in the world. On the side wall were several Wand/Batons sitting in holsters. Next to them were a few dozen hand held CB radios. Then he spotted something he didn't expect to see.

An Ots-33 Automatic Pistol.

"Is that my gun?" He said to himself aloud. He picked it up to take a look. "That is my gun!"

The Cleric's had obviously taken it off him when they captured him or more accurately, when he had allowed himself to be captured.

He tucked it into the back of his trousers. He then spotted a box of Fragmentation Grenades sitting in a military marked box. He grabbed 2 of them and tucked them into his back pockets. Al left the room and headed back to the lab. He went inside and immediately began releasing all of the caged rats.

"Trust me lads, you aren't going to want to be here in a minute...oh sorry, ladies," The dozens of Rats hurried towards the entrance and any possible source of food.

Albus walked to the doors, turned, unpinned one of the grenades and threw it into the lab. He slammed the steel doors and put up a Gravity field around them. The explosion shook the entire corridor but Al's field held strong and none of it escaped the lab.

Happy with himself, he walked back down the corridor passed the Armory and out of the door at the end.

Albus found himself in a massive awe inspiring hall. He suddenly realized that the place had to be the same size, if not bigger than the Millennium Dome! He also knew that the only place to hide a structure that big was underground. The only question was, where exactly underground was he?

EM_And where the hell is everyone?!_/EM

He sniffed the air and picked up on a smell he remember well. - Lisa.

He scanned the area but couldn't see anyone. Albus then spotted the enormous statue towards the middle of the open hall. He was about to start walking towards it when he picked up on footsteps behind him.

He span around with Daggra's pistol pointed towards the sounds.

"Hello Albus," Marshall's voice echoed around the hall. "welcome home."

==== POTTER MANOR – OUTSIDE PETHAM – UK – DECEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Ron already had his arm around his sister and Hermione was trying desperately hard not to tear up. The revelation about their son had been just as hard to hear a second time. For her it much have been agony.

Ginny was shaking, as if she had just come in from an icy cold blizzard. She wasn't crying, maybe because she was still in such shock that she simply couldn't at that moment. She was just pale, staring into nothingness and not making a sound.

"We're gonna find him, Gin...we're gonna help him," Harry tried for the 3rd time.

"I tried to warn you...," She breathed a barely audible whisper. "I told you not to say those things about him!"

Ron, Harry and Hermione looked flabbergasted.

"You knew?" Harry blurted.

"I'm his mother! Of course I knew!" She hissed.

"Why didn't you -"

"Why do you think?!" She screamed.

"Ginny...I...," Harry couldn't form a full sentence.

"You put a warrant out for the arrest of our son! Our son, Harry!"

"Ginny...I had to -"

"You had too?! Why?! Because the Wireless told you too!? She was enraged.

"Because he threw a motorbike a my Godson!" Harry yelled back, not backing down. "Because he could be killing people as we speak!"

That was enough to finally make Ginny fall apart. She burst into tears and grabbed hold of her brother for dear life.

"What's happening to my baby?!" She cried, harder than ever before.

"Ginny...he's...he's not well," Tears were beginning to fall down Harry's face as well. "I'm going to help him...I promise!"

Ginny let go of her brother and embraced her husband. She cried even harder into his chest. "Find him, Harry! Bring him home!"

"I will...I promise...,"

==== CLERIC'S TEMPLE – LOCATION UNKNOWN – DECEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====

"Home?" Albus looked around quickly. "Sorry, I'm more of a Feng shui kinda guy,"

Marshall chuckled. "Why am I not surprised,"

"Your not the one I spoke to over the phone,"

"No, that was Mathis," Marshall said.

"And where is Mathis, I'm dieing to meet him,"

"He's not here. No ones here. I sent them away," He said calmly. "put the gun down Albus, I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to talk,"

Albus felt safe enough to lower his weapon.

"So," Al looked around again. "this is your...lair?"

Marshall nodded. "It's yours too. In fact it's more than that, It's your birthright."

"Come again?" Albus said with raised eyebrows.

Marshall nodded again, this time towards the huge statue just behind Al. Albus used the gun to direct the Cleric to move in front of him. Marshall did it without arguing.

Together they walked in to the front of it.

Albus looked up to see that it was in fact, of a beautiful women with long flowing hair and her arm reaching towards the heavens. She wasn't holding anything but was wearing some kind of long, dress that dropped to her ankles. There were no chip marks or signs of aging anywhere on the stone figurine.

Then the name at the bottom of the base caught his eye. _Illyria. _Al's mouth fell open.

"You know, the word Colossus means a statue or symbol of great power and importance. Ironic, don't you think?" Marshall smiled.

"What the hell is this?" Albus had prepared himself for a lot of things when he started his offensive against the Clerics, but this wasn't one of them.

"Surely you know the legend of Illyria?"

"The first witch," Albus answered absently, still looking up at the other Colossus.

"Not just the first witch, the first magical being to ever exist. And there was no such thing as a wand back then...so her power would have manifested it self much like yours -"

"Your telling me that Illyria was an Anomaly?"

"We don't know. Personally, I think she was a bit of both. But one things for certain. She gave birth to both the wizarding world and your species. Illyria is the mother of us all," Marshall said with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Bullshit! Anomalies aren't born, we evolve!" Albus hissed.

"And who gave you the power to evolve? She was the first and most powerful. When everyone still thought the world was flat, she had traveled this entire globe, building temples like this one wherever she went. When she was betrayed and imprisoned, the Temples were hidden or destroyed. But these structures weren't the only thing she left behind. The legends tell us that she awarded power to her most faithful followers, but that's only half true. You see, she gave them power in the hopes that if she ever was somehow killed, she could use that power to return,"

Albus had echoes of Voldemort's history running through his head.

"But, she underestimated the human race. Their ability to adapt. They were not only able to use the power she gave them, but were able to pass it on to others," Marshall continued.

"Purebloods,"

"That's right. Long ago, they thought that if they stayed in all magical families, then the power would never be too diluted from the source. But they were wrong. It passed through the human race without prejudiced. People with no magical lineage began to develop the ability to wield magic. And so the wizarding world was born,"

"But?"

"But...it didn't stop there. Even someone as powerful and wise as Illyria couldn't have imagined something like Evolution. The power that she had left behind began to change. And humans began to change as well. Instead of simply housing magic inside them, people began to live it. It became a part of them. It was rare, but it happened. People with the ability to control water, fire, lightning, to look inside the minds of others, to be strong enough to pick up boulders...to see the future...," Marshall smiled. "Do the names, Poseidon, Zeus, Apollo, Hercules mean anything to you? Where do you think those legends came from, Albus?"

"Bullshit! Your telling me that the Greek Gods were -"

"All myth's and legends have some truth to them. Imagine if someone like you had existed 5000 years ago. What would they call you, Albus? What do you call your self right now? Colossus! That's partly why we do what we do. The power always goes to your heads. And that got us thinking...Illyria built these temples because she wanted the whole world to know who she was, what she had accomplished. That she was all powerful. Why then, would she hand out power to other people? Why would she have ever taken the chance that people like you would call themselves gods and be written into history for the rest of time?"

"Maybe she was on the rag, having a bad day and just forgot!" Albus scowled. He still wasn't buying into it.

"Or maybe, it's the reason she was betrayed in the first place! Maybe, she planned to put a stop to her mistake before it got out of hand!" Marshall believed every single word he was saying. "She saw what was coming and she tried to stop it! She never meant for your kind to exist! Your entire race, was an accident!"

Albus didn't show it, but the possibility of that felt like a freight train running through his stomach.

"She knew what would happen if your species was allowed to carry on living! Maybe thats why she built the Machine!" He said furiously.

"Speaking of which," Albus focused. "let's see this Machine!"

Marshall took a few steps back then reached for his wand. The gun in Al's hand instantly targeted his head. Marshall slowed his movements. His wand wasn't encased in metal like the other Cleric's. It was a simple, short dark wooden one, like he had seen a thousand times before at Hogwarts.

Marshall gave it a flick and suddenly the sound of moving rock filled the hall. The stone ground in front of Al, moved aside like a giant sliding door. From the floor, a platform began to rise up. It had a large computer with a glass monitor attached to it that sat on a desk. The few pieces of technology looked very out of place, considering the rest of the Temple was made of solid rock.

Just in front of the computer, what looked like a massive TV screen laid on it's back was spread on the ground. It automatically began projecting a holographic image of the earth.

Albus surveyed the scene for a second then chuckled lightly. "That's it? That's you magnificent 'Machine'?" He made air quotes for the word Machine.

"No,"Marshall admitted, giving his wand another flick.

More sounds of moving rock were heard but this time, nothing raised out of the ground. Another stone cover slid away from the floor, this time revealing a chamber beneath it.

Albus peered over the side.

The Machine Core had to be a mile deep! With shafts working like slow moving grinder blades endlessly spinning. Golden electricity was randomly ricocheting from one shaft to another and there was a low but steady hum.

"Huh...you really are one step short of becoming a Bond villain, aren't ya?"

He pulled the spare grenade from his back pocket and smiled. "Well...," He pulled the pin. "Maybe 2 steps,"

He dropped the live explosive into the shaft and flicked his hand. The stone cover moved back over covering the core. A second later the entire Temple rumbled and small bursts of dust fell from the ceiling.

The computer platform, including the holographic Earth suddenly went dead.

Marshall sighed.

"One down," He grinned. "One to go," Albus again raised the gun, pointing it at Marshall's head. "Where is the Prophecy?"

Marshall dropped his wand and raised his hands, trying to be as non-threatening as possible. "Albus...please, listen to me. Remember your father...,"

"Black hair, green eyes, lightning bolt scar on his forehead? Yeah, I remember him, why?"

"How did he get that scar, Albus?"

"Voldemort tried to kill him when he was a -"

"And why did he try and kill him?" Marshall interrupted.

Albus knew what he was talking about.

"When he heard the Prophecy, he started a chain reaction of events that led to it being for filled! What if you do the same?"

"It won't mean shit because that Prophecy isn't about me!"

"I wish it weren't!"

"Well, let's go have a look see!"

Albus walked over the sealed stone floor that covered the destroyed Machine Core and grabbed Marshall. He stuck the gun against his temple and thumbed back the hammer.

"Your gonna show me where it is or I'm going to shot you and tear this place apart until I find it, your choice!"

Marshall was defeated. "That way," He nodded towards a door to his left.

Albus pushed him towards it and opened the door.

Inside, there was an eerie blue light the emanated from the center of the room. Some kind of cylinder made of energy began at the floor and ended at the roof. Inside it was a small brown box, floating lazily.

Albus picked up a stone from the floor and threw it at the barrier. It was instantly disintegrated on impact.

"I can't deactivate that. It need 3 people to shut it down," Marshall said honestly.

"Yeah well...," Albus approached the energy barrier. "I bet when you were building this thing...you didn't take gravity into account," Albus outstretched his arm and focused created a field around the box.

It stopped spinning and floated through the barrier without damage, into Al's hand.

"Albus...that box...it's Pandora's Box! You read what's inside it and everything you care about will be destroyed!" Marshall was panicking.

"Again with the Greek mythology! You were a history student weren't you?"

"I'm serious Albus!"

"If you were so serious, why show me the Machine? Why tell me where this was in the first place?"

"Because I hoped that you would see sense!" He meant it. "I was planning to offer you the Machine, in exchange for leaving the Prophecy alone! For taking Aurora and disappearing!"

Albus shoved the gun back in his face. "Say her name again!" He threatened.

Marshall didn't speak. He shoved him back into the main hall.

"Albus, if you want her to live...you will never look at what's in that box!"

Albus laughed. "I'm not going to look at it...this is my insurance! You ever come near me and mine again, I'll make sure that this gets on every TV, radio and wireless on the planet! I'll post it on the fucking Internet myself!"

Marshall has sweat rolling of his forehead. He had failed. "So now your going to kill me."

Albus pushed the mussel harder into Marshall head, Then...

He lowered it. "No, I'm not."

Marshall, confused turned to look Al in the eye.

"My kind, even I have spent all this time thinking that you people are some kind of bogeymen. Ready to jump out at us from the shadows. But your not. Your just...human. Weak and afraid. That's why we're better than you...,"

Marshall still didn't understand. He was sure that the bullet lock in the chamber had his name on it.

"I meant what I said. I so much a get a whiff of you people and not only will I see what's in the box, but the rest of the world will too. Then, I'll kill your friends, your families, everyone you've even known! I will burn your world now!" He flashed the box in his face. "You stay away, this stays closed -"

_BANG!_

The Box was blasted from his hand as spell and gun fire was being thrown at him from all directions. The troops were back!

Marshall ducked down into the Prophecy room as Albus returned fire. Spells and bullets ricocheted off his shield and slammed into the space around him. He searched around and spotted the box. It had it's entire top portion burned away from being hit by the spell.

He outstretched his arm and the box flew into his hand.

More fire came his way as he squeezed off the last few rounds in the gun. It clicked empty.

He dropped the empty weapon and pulled the automatic pistol from his trousers. He gun sprayed the room with 3-4 round bursts.

Just as it did, the door flashed inside his mind. It felt so close.

Albus knew what he had to do. He ran and top speed, back towards the door he had come through. He bolted through the corridor, past the armory until he found the one he was looking for. The Port Key room.

He shot inside and over to the cupboard, opened it and grabbed the first Port Key he saw. With a blast of blue light, he disappeared.

After what felt like being underwater and caught in the wake of a strong wave, his feet hit solid ground.

He shook the cobwebs from his head. "Never again! I'm sticking to flying!"

Instantly he felt hot air on his face and could here excitement and people around him. He picked him self up off the ground and looked up to see that he was standing directly in front of the MGM Grand Hotel in the gambling capital of the world.

"Well, Viva Las Vegas,"

He felt strangely satisfied, after all, what he had just done, was one hell of a gamble. He didn't even bother to check if he was being watched. With the damaged box clutched tightly in his hand, he blasted himself into the air.


	27. Harbinger

==== HARBINGER ====

==== HOGWARTS – SCOTLAND – UK – DECEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====

The yelling in the headmasters office was loud enough to be heard in the corridors. A few very nervous looking first years scuttled past the gargoyles as quickly as they could. Inside, most of the shouting was coming from Aurora.

She had made several attempts to charge out of the office. The first was stopped by the arrival of Sophia who had tried very hard to calm Aurora down, but had obviously failed. Now she was being stopped by Lynx and Violet who were both trying desperately to stop her from reaching the entrance.

Aurora had demanded to be allowed to leave and search for Albus but everyone else had strongly objected considering that she was also on the Auror Department's hit list.

"Get out of my way!" Aurora growled.

"Aurora, calm down!" Violet begged.

"If you're spotted, they'll arrest you! How are you going to help him then?" Amelia yelled.

"You don't even know where he is Aurora!" Scorpius agreed.

"How do you think you're going to find him?" Lincoln reinforced.

"The traditional way! Look!" She scowled.

Just as she moved, the entrance to the headmasters office opened. For a second, Aurora's heart stopped.

"Looking for someone?" Albus smiled.

She didn't hesitate to wrapped her arms around him and push her lips to his. But as quickly as it began, she pulled away and laid a heavy right hook straight into Al's mouth. He wasn't quick enough to put up a shield and stumbled back.

"Don't ever do that to me again!" Aurora roared.

As soon as she finished yelling, she embraced and kissed him once again. "Are you alright?!"

"No, you just punched me!"

She kissed him again and was instantly forgiven.

Albus looked around at the faces he hadn't seen in so long. It wasn't being back at the school, it was being round them that made him feel like he was home.

"Where have you been?!" Rose demanded.

"Sorry, I was sort of captured...well more accurately, I allowed my self to be captured." Al said with a smug grin on his face.

"I'm gonna punch you again!" Aurora growled.

"It was necessary! I needed to find the Machine!"

"You found it?" Lincoln looked shocked.

Albus nodded, still grinning.

"And?"

"I came, I saw, I rule!"

Lincoln couldn't believe what he was hearing. The instrument that their entire species had feared for thousands of years was finally gone. They couldn't be tracked anymore. They were free.

Lincoln burst into laughter and hugged Sophia who was also smiling wildly.

"They can't detect you anymore?!" Tannis gasped.

"Any of us! We can use our abilities when ever we want!" Albus said happily before laying another kiss on Aurora.

Even Amelia was as happy as a clam. She never had to worry about her brother using his ability, being detected and hunted ever again.

"Oh and," Albus pulled the small wooden box from the back of his trousers. He threw it to Sophia. "a present."

"What's this?" She asked.

"The Prophecy,"

All the happy smiles and excitement ended instantly. The room when silent.

"I haven't looked at it and to be honest, I'm not sure if I should. They seem pretty convinced that it somehow includes me. I thought you should have a loot at it first, then you can tell me whether or not it's safe," Albus said.

Lincoln seemed somehow mesmerized by box. Like it could hold the secret to eternal life or something.

"I'm gonna step outside and try and find a cigarette. You guys, look at that and make a decision," He said.

"I'll come with you," Aurora took hold of Al's hand.

"No, I want you in here checking that Prophecy. I need to know what you think," He saw what looked like a distant sadness in her eyes. "I'm not going anywhere, Aurora. I love you,"

She smiled and kissed him yet again.

"Hey, don't do this," Albus began to brush her hair away from her face.

"Al...don't," She moved away, not wanting to show him her face.

"Why not? You're beautiful." He brushed her long black strands behind her ear. The Swedish healer had certainly done his job well. 95% of her face looked just like it did before, the only difference was the area over her left eyebrow and temple. Oddly enough, the scar wasn't a burn, it looked more like a several dozen small slashes that weaved in and out of each other.

Despite the redness and swelling, the over all scar looked almost like a Chinese or Japaneses symbol. Like something a person would choose to have as a tattoo. Albus couldn't explain it but he actually found it strangely arousing.

He leaned over and planted a very gentle kiss over it. As he did, a small smile crept onto Aurora's face.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," Albus said softly.

He moved towards the exit and was gone. Aurora sighed and walked over to Sophia, who was still holding the box. For a second all they did was look at it.

"Don't keep me waiting, Soph," Lincoln breathed, his eyes still glued to the box.

Inside that little wooden crate sat the true reasons that their species was almost made extinct. He needed to know.

She slowly opened it taking care not to touch the damaged end of it.

Inside was one extremely old piece of parchment that had been sealed inside a plastic cover and another, much newer piece of white paper. The parchment had very neat but ancient looking writing on it, where as the paper was in fact a print out. Unfortunately, the parchment had most of it's bottom quarter burnt away and the paper was even worse. Because it wasn't sealed in plastic, it had been able to burn most of the way through. Only about 30% of it remained.

Sophia studied the parchment for a second. "This is incomplete. The last part is missing," She sighed.

"What's the other piece there?" James asked.

"It's a profile," Amelia answered in confusion.

Rose looked closely at the parchment in Sophia's hand. "I don't know that language," She admitted.

"It's Latin,"

"Why would the Prophecy be in Latin?" James asked.

"Because 1800 years ago, the Roman Empire ruled the world...and they all spoke Latin," Sophia replied.

"Do you speak Latin?" Lynx asked.

"Yes,"

"Read it," Lincoln breathed.

"_The world prepares for the coming of the Twins of Destiny... One embraced by light, the other by darkness,"_ Everyone in the room was already looking confused. Sophia continued. _"more than man, more than magic... The Twin of Light, born the son of the marked hero, once becoming a man shall birth into this world, his...equal. If stood untied, no force, living or dead can defeat them. If divided, they shall make war on one another. A war that will consume the world. Darkness shall fall and demons shall reign until the power decides the victor. She alone will chose, which will fall into the abyss and which will live forever. As...,"_ Sophia looked even closer._ "_That's where it cuts off. These letters here are_ 'A'_ and _'S', _the burn mark makes it hard to see if there's a gap after the letter or not,"

"So it could be...Aspire, Ascend, Assume...," Rose began spouting off more possibilities.

"Asshole...," Hugo mumbled except that everyone heard and stared at him. "What?! Can't rule anything out at the moment!"

"The Twins of destiny?" Tannis said. "So there's two,"

"Yes, and a woman. It clearly refers to 'The Power' as a she," Rose reminded.

"The son of the Marked Hero," James repeated. He had turned pale white. "My father...,"

"Let's not jump to any conclusions," Violet tried. "No one came out of that war without some kind of scar!"

"It didn't say scar! It said marked! Dad was marked, as an equal, by Voldemort!" Lily looked as ill as her brother.

"It really is him...," James breathed.

"We don't know that!" Lincoln jumped in. "Let's not jump to any conclusions!"

"It practically spells his name out!" Lily cried. She sounded more scared than anything else. "more than man, more than magic! The son of the marked hero!"

"Except that Al doesn't have a Twin!" Amelia said quickly.

"According to this, his Twin won't arrive until he becomes a man. I'm assuming that means 17." Tannis deduced.

"Aurora," Sophia said suddenly. "what do you think?"

Aurora, who had been completely silent since hearing the Prophecy looked up. "It's not him. Albus would never knowingly endanger the people he loves. It's not him," She stated.

Other than the whizzing instruments around them, the room had gone silent again. Nobody had any kind of argument against that.

"So...," Hugo as usual, broke the tension that had followed. "who's this 'Power'?" It was actually a good question.

"Athena," Lincoln said simply. He was looking at what was left of the burnt print out. "It gets cut off on the first letter of the surname," He showed the group. "That looks like it could be an _'O'_, _'Q_', _'G' _or _'C'_, judging by the curve."

"How do you know she's the -" Violet asked but Lincolns answer cut her off.

"Look at the bottom,"

They did. The word _'Electroken -' _was printed at the bottom before being burnt away.

"Electroken?"

"Electrokenetic. The ability to control electricity, otherwise known as...,"

"Power." Rose breathed.

"Son of a bitch!" Amelia blurted. "they already found her!"

"But they didn't kill her because if they failed to stop the Prophecy from coming true, they'd need her to decide the outcome of the war!" Rose clocked onto it as well.

Lincoln nodded.

"Sneaky bastards," James added.

"We have to find her!" Tannis said quickly.

"Wait a second. We have to decide whether or not to tell Albus about this first." Scorpius interrupted.

"No! We can't!" Rose shrieked causing all eyes to turn to her. "Voldemort tried to kill Harry because he heard the Prophecy! If he had never heard it, Harry would never have been marked in the first place! What if, by telling Albus, we actually cause this Prophecy to come true?!"

"We don't know that it's actually about -" Lynx began but was cut off.

"How can we even take that chance?! We know that Voldemort caused his own demise the moment he heard that Prophecy!" She sounded terrified. Nobody noticed the sadness of Sophia's face.

"Your missing one major factor in all this Miss Wealsey," Tannis said causing Rose to look slightly insulted. "The Prophecy concerning your uncle and Voldemort, very nearly spelled out the exact date in which Harry would be born. 'As the 7th month dies' that leaves a window of possibly 48 hours. Add to that, the declaration that the child would be born to parents that had defied him 3 times already, you get only to possible candidates. Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter. Voldemort himself was the deciding factor in that," Tannis's scientific background had kicked in. "In this Prophecy, there are no such variables. And I am willing to bet that there is more than one 'Hero' that has been marked by a terrible event but lived to produce children. This alone, makes it impossible for us to know or not know if it refers to Albus,"

"He's right," Amelia agreed. "Our dad had a birth mark on his shoulder. That's still a mark, and Lincoln's an Anomaly, just like Al."

"Exactly, it could be someone in hiding, half way around the world! The point is, the only one we can be even the slightest bit sure of is this girl," Tannis pointed to the burnt piece of paper. "Athena...so, I say again, we have to find her!"

"So you think we should tell him?!" Rose was outraged.

"We'll put it to a vote," Lincoln suggested.

"No, no we won't," Tannis said surprisingly. "We are not a democracy. We are a group of Witches, Wizards and Anomalies who have little if any practical knowledge of Divination or Prophecies. So..., we will study the evidence as best we can then we will leave it to the person most qualified to make this kind of decision,"

All eyes turned to Sophia who sighed. "Your dumping this on me?"

"Yes," Tannis admitted.

"Shit," She whispered.

She closed her eyes for a full 30 seconds before opening them again.

"Tell him."

Rose's face went bright red with anger. "You can't be ser -"

"Rose! It's done." Scorpius stopped her before she could blow her fuse.

A minute later Albus re-entered the headmasters office. Sophia was the one to hand him the Prophecy and he didn't fail to notice the slightly unnerved look on her face. The room stayed completely silent as he read through it. Luckily their minds were to preoccupied to ask how he could read Latin. He really didn't want to get into a lecture about the dangers of Hyper-Cognition at that moment.

"Who's the girl?" She asked suddenly.

"Err, we only have a first name and an ability. All the other information was destroyed. Her names Athena, she's an Electrokentic," Tannis informed.

Albus chuckled to himself. "What is it with Greek Mythology today? Well, considering what this says, I think the name certainly suites her. The goddess of wisdom and warfare. Defiantly sounds like someone that'll make the final decision."

Everyone waited for him to speak again.

"Well, I suppose that since you've shown me this, you want me to find her?"

"Albus, you've destroyed the Machine, you've stolen the Prophecy and you've brought their numbers down to a manageable level," Sophia said, moving closer to him. "your revenge can wait. She's the priority now,"

"She's right Al," Lincoln agreed. "now that they know that we know, they'll be trying to put their hands to her as well. She needs protecting...she's one of us,"

Albus wasn't the slightest bit happy about giving the Cleric's time to regroup but the argument was sound. Not only was Athena important enough to be given all the protection they could muster but he would be doing even more damaged to them by getting to her first.

"Alright...," Albus said. "we find her, then I take out the rest of em!"

"No arguments here." Lincoln chirped.

Scorpius sighed in desperation.

"Easier said than done, we don't even know where to start looking." Amelia huffed.

"If the Cleric's have already identified her ability then it means it must have already manifested it's self. We should check every database we can for unknown electrical phenomenon." Tannis suggested.

"Nah, that won't work," Albus sounded annoyed. "they would have erased all information about her. They do it for their own people, they're sure as shit gonna do it for her!"

"It's still worth a try," Lynx added.

"No... They've made mistakes before. What we need to do if find something they've overlooked...," Albus tried to focus his thoughts.

"The Ministry achieves!" Aurora blurted.

Everyone, including Albus looked to her for an explanation. "If she ever did show up in the wizarding world, they wouldn't have know how to classify her! Until a few weeks ago they didn't even know what an Anomaly was! They'd probably filed it away in...miscellaneous or something!"

"Smart girls are so hot!" Hugo had clearly lost control of his mouth again causing Aurora to giggle.

"Oi! Mine!" Albus warned. Hugo shrank in his seat. "but...peen-ass over there does have a point. My girl is very cleaver...," Aurora blew him a kiss. "She's right. I bet you, they have some random bit of information on her floating around in their archives!"

"Hold on! Albus, you can just strolling into the Ministry!" Rose objected.

"Why not?"

"Because there is a warrant out for your arrest!"

"I know," Albus brushed off.

"Yes, well you...wait...how do you know?" Rose's eyes narrowed.

"Huh?"

"You said you had been locked up for the last 3 weeks! How do you know there is a warrant out for your arrest?"

"Because," Al smiled. "I was the one that told them!"

Rose, James, Hugo, Lily, Lynx and Violet's jaws practically hit the floor.

"What?!...why would...what could have possessed you to...why?!" Rose spluttered.

"Because fear, is extremely useful at the moment," Albus grinned.

"What?!"

"Relax Rosey...it's all part of the plan,"

Rose didn't the complete opposite of relax and stayed stiff and shocked.

"Lincoln, I need some 9mm rounds. You got any?"

"Yeah,"

"Good, get em. You and your sister tool up as well, your coming with me," Albus ordered.

Lincoln and Amelia weren't going to argue. They had been waiting to get into the action.

"I'm coming too," Aurora said.

"No, I don't want -"

"Don't even think about trying to convince me otherwise, Albus. From now on we stick together." Her eyes were all the argument she needed. As powerful as he was, he couldn't stand up to her eyes.

He bit his lip and nodded approval. "Disguise yourselves. Your already in enough trouble," He turned to look at Lynx and Violet. "You two, find the Bobs. Get em here and bring them up to speed,"

"Have you lost your mind?!"

"You want the Bobs in on this?!" They both objected at the same time.

"I trust em. Do it." There wasn't an ounce of humor in Al's voice. "I'm going up to my room, I'll be back in a sec,"

Albus kissed Aurora swiftly before darting out of the entrance. He moved as quickly as possible through the corridors as not to be spotted by any of the students. He moved inside he room, looking for the fire whiskey bottle that he knew was there somewhere.

There was a knock at the slightly open door. Scorpius moved inside.

"I want to come with you." He said straight away.

"Four's plenty Mal, stay here with Rose." Al said, still searching for his whiskey.

"No, I think I should come along."

"Why?"

"To make sure you don't do anything you might regret," Scorpius said honestly.

Albus stopped searching and looked Scorpius in the eyes. "And what might I regret?"

"How many people have you killed?" His words stung Albus. It wasn't the sort of question he ever expected to be asked by his best friend.

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters!" Scorpius barked. "Is it worth it?"

Albus looked away in contempt.

"I can't begin to imagine what it's been like for you, for your kind. Always having to look over your shoulder, always hunted. And I understand why you would want to strike back, I really do! But at what price? Is your survival worth loosing your humanity?! Is avenging Aurora worth becoming a monster?!" Scorpius pleaded.

He didn't want to lose anymore of his friend than he already had.

"And if you think that it is...what happens when you run out of people to fight?! People to punish?!" He actually had tears falling from his eyes. "I'll tell you what happens...you start looking for people to blame! You wake up one day and look in the mirror only it isn't your reflection you see, it's Lithgos! It's Voldemorts!"

Albus shot a burning look of pain into Scorpius' eyes. Mal backed away, half expecting Albus to attack him.

"You never understood, did you?" Albus whispered. "It was never about revenge! It was never about survival or glory! It was about you! It was about them! It was about Aurora!"

Scorpius hadn't expected this. He never imagined that there could actually be something behind Albus's malicious and hate filled acts. But he suddenly realized that there was. If fact, it was all for show. A cover to wrap his true plans in. To the outside world it was simply revenge, but in actual fact, there was something much deeper at work there as well.

"You never understood. Neither did your father or my father for that matter! They only saw what was right in front of their faces! And when it got too tough, they crawled up into balls a wept! They begged it to end, to be pushed onto somebody else!...I would never wish that!"

Scorpius was taken back at the sight of tears falling from Albus's eyes. He never seen the Colossus cry.

"You see, sacrifice Mal...that's what it takes to be a savior. And if your not willing to give up what you care about the most, then you have to give up part of your self instead... So yes! I will burn my own humanity, I will take lives! I will be a monster! And one day in the distant future, when you worn and old, you'll look back and realize that my sacrifice kept this world spinning! Kept your hearts beating!"

Salt water was now flowing freely from his eyes.

"I suffered and took the pain and did terrible things so that you'd never have to! Because that's the price the Colossus must pay!... That's the price of being a hero...," Albus whipped his face with his sleeve and marched towards the door.

He stopped at the doorway. "Are you coming or not?"

Scorpius snapped out of his trance. He knew he still had to stick with Albus, not to save him, but to make sure that Albus saved everyone else. Scorpius wasn't the hero. He was the one that kept the hero going.

Scorpius followed Albus back down to the headmasters office. As they walked, they did their best to stay hidden from the rest of the Hogwarts population.

"Listen," Albus said. "when we get to the Ministry, what ever happens, whatever I do, I need to know that you are gonna support me."

"I might question you Al, but I haven't lost faith in you," Scorpius admitted.

"Good...because you aren't going to like what I do in there,"

"I just don't want to loose my friend...,"

Albus stopped him. "You wont," He smiled. "besides...it's all part of the plan!"

They continued past the gargoyles and into the headmasters office. When they got there, they found both Aurora and Amelia looked absolutely nothing like they used to. Amelia now had purple hair and what looked like, fake tan all over her skin. Aurora had dyed her hair blond and covered her scar with a large black mole.

"You know, you don't look too bad a blond," Al remarked giving her a wink. She blew him a kiss back.

Just behind her, Violet was looking at Aurora's transfigured hair then looking at her own, probably wondering what she would look like as a blond.

Lincoln, however, hadn't change a bit.

"Hey! You want to get recognized?"

"What are they gonna do? Arrest me?" Lincoln quipped.

"Fair enough," Trying to arrest a man that could walk through walls was what was commonly know as an _exercise in futility_. "Aurora, I need you to alter Mal's face, he's coming with us,"

"What?!" Rose shrieked.

"It's fine Rose, I'll be okay!"

"If he's going, I'm going!" Rose demanded.

"No, your not!" Scorpius shot back causing her to instantly start turning red. "Rose, I'll be fine. I've got two powerful witches and two Anomalies looking after me!"

"Yeah, relax Rose. I'll watch his back," Amelia smiled. "and his ass,"

"Huh?!" Scorpius looked like he had been confunded.

"Excuse me?!" Rose roared.

"I'm kidding!" Amelia laughed.

"Amelia," Lincoln said loading up a shotgun. "he's a little young for you!"

"Ahh, you're as old as you feel," Amelia smiled sweetly. "of course, I haven't felt him yet...,"

Rose pulled her wand and pointed it straight at Amelia's chest. She had a look of madness on her face. "Back off, Vampire!"

"Rose!" Albus broke her frenzy. "She only joking. Besides, Mal's going to be sticking with me."

Rose grumbled something and stormed over to Lynx and Violet.

"Sorry, probably should have mentioned that. My sis has a thing for anyone that's taken. Male or female. She likes the sport of trying to seduce someone that already has a partner," Lincoln explained. "I think it helps take the edge off of the whole 'not eating people' thing."

"Okay...," Albus said as Lincoln handed him a few clips of ammo for his machine pistol. "but she goes near Aurora and I'll break her arms!"

"She wouldn't. Those two are sisters," Lincoln chuckled. "might want to warn your friends though. Especially the tall one over there," He nodded towards Violet.

"She's taken,"

"That'll just make Amelia more inclined."

Aurora finished modifying Scorpius's face. He now had light brown hair, a scar on his forehead and a slightly over sized chin. Almost like a slightly deformed pirate. Hugo and James burst into laughter at the sight of him.

"I look ridiculous!" Scorpius moaned.

"Yeah well, better than looking like yourself," Albus remarked. "Everyone ready?"

They nodded. Rose gave Scorpius a fleeting worried look.

"How can you been sure they won't just shoot you the moment you walk into the Ministry?!" Lily asked.

Albus grinned maniacally. "Because they think I'm crazy!"

"Are you?" She asked.

Albus laughed. "Maybe...,"

It wasn't difficult to see the white wash of fear that began to pour over the faces of his friends. They loved him, they supported him, they'd protect him if they could. And even though they were sure that there was at least some order beyond the madness he displayed, some kind of reason behind the anarchy, he was nevertheless, terrifying. A force onto him self. An enigma that only he could decipher.

It was all an illusion. Everything about him was an illusion. A mask that protected his true self from the world. His human face and normal actions and speech were nothing more than a decoy to hide what was really underneath. They all told themselves that he simply wasn't capable of doing what the Prophecy had foretold but how could they every be sure. Because what was in front of them, wasn't a man, wasn't a human, wasn't even Albus Severus Potter. What it was...they could never know.

He kept telling them that he had a plan, but what that plan was, what it entailed and how far he would go to see it come to fruition was beyond any of them. They could only watch on and have faith that no matter what chaos ensued, he would bring them through it.

He grinned again. "Okay, let's start this party with a bang!"


	28. Villains

==== VILLAINS ====

==== MINISTRY OF MAGIC – LONDON – UK – DECEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====

The entire Auror department was moving at high speed. Everyone there was grabbing shield cloaks, wands, sneakoscopes and anything else that might offer some protection. Harry, followed by Ron and Teddy, moved through the department quickly.

"Location is Hogsmead Villiage, he was spotted there by a portrait in the Three Broomsticks, Apparently he's still inside. He is to be considered armed and extremely dangerous! We are bringing him in alive!" Harry commanded.

He waited until all the Auror's had assembled in front of him, ready to move.

"There is no direct floo connection at the moment because of maintenance so we'll head for Little Hangleton then floo from there to the Village. Once there, set up a perimeter and move civilians away from the area as quietly as possible," Harry began heading out of the office. "nobody moves into the Three Broomsticks until I give the order!"

The fact that the entire Auror department was moving through the ministry caused up quite a stir. It was rare to see something so important that it required the attention of so many law enforcers. They immediately went straight for the Atrium floo points and began disappearing into bursts of green fire.

They arrived in the lobby of what looked like a large and very old hotel for wizards and witches. There were several foreign looking families walking around together floating luggage. Harry ignored their looks of surprise as he walked past them. They headed for another batch of floo points at the opposite end of the lobby.

There were only 3 floo points at the end of the Lobby forcing the Auror's to line up. Without a word spoken, they started flooing to Hogsmead Village. It was at that moment that something struck Teddy. Why would Albus be in Hogsmead village? He had been able to avoid detection for over 3 weeks and suddenly he turns up, putting himself out in the open for all to see. It didn't make sense.

Albus wasn't afraid of them. He had no reason to be. He had abilities that no one else in living history had but he wasn't stupid either. It was this thought that nagged at Teddy more than anything. Combined with the adrenaline and fear that was starting to show it's self, Teddy was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he almost didn't realize he was the only Auror left in the Lobby. All the others had already Floo'd away.

He stepped into the fireplace, grabbed the powder and spoke clearly. "Hogsmead,"

Nothing happened.

He grabbed another hand full of powder and tried again but was met with the same result. He stepped out, confused and looked at the fireplace.

A cold feeling suddenly gripped his insides. This wasn't coincidence. It was a trap!

He turned to rush back to the other floo points but was stopped in his track by an incredibly strong hand that clamped around his throat and lifted him off his feet.

In front of him was a purple haired woman with a devious grin on her face. Her smile revealed a pair of razor sharp K-9's in her mouth. From behind her stepped someone even more terrifying.

"Hi Teddy," Albus said sadistically.

"He stinks like a wolf!" Amelia growled.

"That's because he's part wolf," Al laughed. "he can't transform though and he's going to be a good little doggy for us, aren't you Teddy?"

==== HOGSMEAD VILLIAGE – SCOTLAND – UK - DECEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====

The sun was setting quickly behind the snowy mountains that surrounded the Village.

The Auror's had already begun clearing the area of anyone that could get hurt in the event of a fight breaking out. They moved around the streets as quickly as possible but staying away from the Three Broomsticks.

Harry looked into the distance. Ahead was the Three Broomsticks but something was wrong. If Albus was in there, no one else would be. After the WWN reports, people would have come running out the moment he walked in. Instead it looked like any other day.

"Where's Teddy?" Ron asked.

Harry looked around but couldn't spot him. Something hit him. This was all wrong!

He bolted towards the pub.

"Harry wait!" Ron chased after him.

Harry burst through the door, looking around frantically. In the far corner he spotted a man with messy black hair facing the wall. He moved towards it carefully with Ron and several others following. As he got closer it became all too obvious. It wasn't a man, it was a manikin.

Harry grabbed it by the shoulder and turned it around. Pinned to it's chest was a piece of parchment that simply had _'HA HA HA HA HA HA' _written all over it in red ink.

"Get back to the ministry!"

==== MINISTRY OF MAGIC – LONDON – UK – DECEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Witches and Wizards were starting to cluster around the floo points looking confused. Apparently the entire network had gone down. They had started trying every single fireplace, one after the other but had met with no success.

There was a green burst from a floo point a few feet away.

"Ah, this one's working," A wizard said heading over to it.

He stopped when he saw Teddy Lupin standing in the opening. He move aside and gave a small bow not noticing the gun pressed to the back of the Auror's head.

Albus appeared directly behind him. "Don't mind if we do!" He pistol whipped Teddy hard over the back of the head, knocking him out cold. He let him slump to the ground and stepped out as more bursts of green fire exploded behind him.

Gunfire rang out across the Atrium as Amelia, Lincoln and Aurora began firing into the air. Both Amelia and Aurora had a wand in one hand and an automatic weapon in the other. Scorpius didn't join in on the fear mongering.

Terrified people froze on the spot of hit the deck. Some tried to go for their wands but weren't quick enough. They were disarmed or punched to the ground before they could get a single spell off.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, we are tonights entertainment!" Albus grinned. "I hear you've been looking for me?"

Anyone that had doubts about whether or not Albus was indeed a psychopath lost them instantly.

A pair of Wizards suddenly made a brave dash for their wands. They took aim at Al's chest.

"Easy there!" Albus said quickly. "Let's not _blow_ this out of proportion," He opened his jacket showing everyone that his body was wired with explosives. "C4 and spell fire really don't make good bedfellows,"

The two wizards certainly weren't willing to risk blowing up the entire Atrium. They dropped their wands , raised their hands and were promptly smacked to the ground by Lincoln.

"I got just one question...," Albus moved around the room, looking at the faces of the frightened people. "where is my dear old aunt?"

Nobody said a word.

Scorpius looked worried. Although he trusted Albus, Hermione was still Rose's mother and if anything happened to her, it would destroy his girlfriend.

"Nobody?" Al looked annoyed and continued to move closer to the hostages. "She's about this tall, lots of hair, really annoying voice, ring any bells?"

Still nobody said anything.

"Hmm," Albus grinned. "I guess we came to the wrong place then,"

He started fiddling around with the explosives on his chest causing a few whimpers of fear to come from the crowd.

"What are you doing Albus?"

He turned to see Hermione standing just next to the fountain of Magical brethren. He grinned.

"Hermy, Hermy, Hermy Jean! Where have you been?" He chimed in happy madness while walking towards her.

"Let these people go Albus, they're nothing to do with this!" She begged.

"If you behave," He grabbed her by the arm and headed towards the elevators. Amelia, Lincoln, Scorpius and Aurora followed them while keeping their guns and wands trained on the hostages.

They got into the elevator and pushed the button for the Department of Mysteries. The doors closed and the lift began to move down.

"What a rush!" Albus laughed.

"What's happened to you Albus?" Hermione breathed. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Why? Because it must be done. That's what you people never realized. You always thought it was about what was right and what was easy but sometimes it's about what's necessary," He said happily.

"This is not necess -"

"You know you should really be thanking me Hermione. I mean, what did you do before I turned up? Nothing! The glory days were over for you guys before I started this. Let's face it, your life hasn't been this interesting until you started screwing my father!"

Hermione wasn't the only one that looked petrified with shock. Scorpius's face mimicked her own.

Albus laughed. "You should really learn to keep your voice down,"

Hermione knew now that it would take only a fraction of annoyance to set Albus off and that she would most likely be his prime target. Her best chance of survival and the survival of everyone else in the Ministry was through cooperation.

The lift bell chimed and a cool voice said: "Department of Mysteries," The doors opened and they stepped out.

"Albus...I...I don't expect you to forgive me but -"

"Good, because I'm not going to," Albus stated simply.

"Please don't punish innocent people for my mistakes," She pleaded.

"Ahh, innocent people get caught in the crossfire all the time Hermione," He looked to Aurora. "It's what known as Collateral Damage," They moved down the deserted corridor quickly.

After a few turns they arrived outside the a heavy black door marked: _Achieves. Unspeakables and Authorized Personnel only._

"Open it," Albus commanded.

Very slowly, Hermione took out her wand and pressed the tip of it to the door. The sound of several heavy locks being unlatched could be heard. As soon as the door opened, Amelia snatched Hermione's wand away from her and pocketed it.

"Let's make this fast, I don't wanna be here all d...," Albus broke off. Something had caught his attention.

It was almost like a whisper from over his shoulder. He moved, like a zombie, down the corridor following the strange sound that seemed to somehow be calling him.

"Al...," Aurora called but Albus wasn't listening. They watched him continue down the corridor in confusion.

A feeling of warmth and comfort started to flood through his body. He closed his eyes and simply used his ears to follow the whispers.

When he opened his eyes he was looking straight at black door. The whispers were coming from behind it.

"What's behind this door?" He asked.

"We don't know...," Hermione answered carefully. "It's never been opened..., Dumbledore said that it houses...love,"

The Locked Door. He had heard about it many times but he'd never been this close. He reached out and pressed his hand to it. Suddenly the beautiful and blinding image of the door made of light flashed in his mind. He hadn't felt that close to it since he had actually died.

"Lincoln, come here!"

Lincoln walked over. As he came closer his attention seemed to be pulled towards the door as well. He stood next to Al and laid his hand on the door.

"You feel it?" Albus asked.

"Jesus! It's be right under our noses the whole time!"

"Albus! We don't have time for this!" Aurora yelled snapping Lincoln out of his trance.

"She's right, we need to move," He said trying to move Albus away from the door. "Al, it's not going anywhere, we'll come back!"

Albus felt somehow wrong for leaving it. They belonged together. And just walking away from it seemed so much harder all of a sudden. Like he was being pulled towards it. Every single step he took seemed to take more effort.

He gave it one final look before stepping inside the Achieves. Immediately he caught the scent of something he recognized. Someone else was in the Achieves room with them.

He held up his hand to stop the others from leaving his protection as he scanned the dark room. Inside, much like the Hall of Prophecies, there as row upon row of ridiculously high shelves, packed to the brim with file folders. A copy of almost every single bit of information that came through the ministry was in that room. He listened closely trying to get a fix on the 6th breather. He tapped Lincoln on the arm and pointed for him to move down the shelves. Amelia went in the opposite direction.

"Where do you store the info you can't classify?" Albus asked.

"Miscellaneous," she pointed. "that way."

Albus pushed her in the general direction. She led the way down the aisles towards the section they were looking for.

The miscellaneous section was divided up into several subsection. _Artifacts, Events, Locations, Magic, Magical Creatures, People and Unknown. _Luckily those sections were arranged in alphabetical order otherwise it would have taken 500 people a month to search through the shelves.

They headed straight towards the _People _section. Scorpius and Aurora began looking through the many names on the sides of the file folders while Albus continued to watch for unseen person lurking in the room with them. Whoever it was, they had heard the locks on the door snap open and were now hiding somewhere inside.

"Shit!" Scorpius blurted.

"What?"

"There's got to be 30 Athena's here!" He said.

"Take em all," Al said simply.

Aurora quickly cast an Undetectable Extension Charm on her bag and they began grabbing files off the shelves and stuffing them inside.

Suddenly there was a clatter of noise from the other side of the room. Someone was sprinting down one of the aisles, breathing hard. Albus moved so quickly it barely registered.

The runner was bolting for the exit.

A man in his mid 40's shot towards the door but just seconds before he could get through he froze on the spot still in mid sprint. Albus could hear the mans heartbeat go into overdrive.

With a flick of his wrist he turned the man around to face him causing Al to grin. "I was so hoping that we'd run into each other again," It was the man that had thrown the grenade at him during the attack in Venice.

Lincoln and Amelia ran up behind Al but relaxed when they saw that it was under control.

"He one of them?" Lincoln asked.

"Yep," Al smiled. "and I'm willing to bet that he's here for the same thing we are,"

Amelia walked over and started patting him down to see if he had any files on him. After a second she stepped back, shaking her head at Albus.

Scorpius, Aurora and Hermione walked over to the door where Al still had the Cleric trapped. He released his hold on him causing the man to suddenly fall to his knees. He was shaking and breathing hard.

Albus walked over a whispered into his ear. "You have one chance to walk out of here with your life. I'm going to ask you a question and unless I get the answer I'm looking for, they will be cleaning you up with a sponge. Am I understood?"

The man nodded his head quickly. He was terrified and Albus loved it.

"Where is Athena?" He whispered.

"We...we...don't know," The man stuttered.

"Wrong answer,"

Albus clammed his had around the Cleric's head and started to squeeze! The man gurgled a scream as the pressure on his skull became unbearable.

"STOP!" Hermione cried but it was too late.

The sickening crunch filled the air. Hermione screamed in complete horror. Al's shield had stopped the blood from even touching him. The body slumped to the ground, the left hand twitching slightly.

Scorpius had to put his hand over his mouth and look away and he tasted vomit creeping up his throat.

"He couldn't have hurt you! He...he was un-unarmed!" Hermione whimpered, tears falling from her eyes.

"That just makes him stupid...," Al remarked. "well this has been a productive visit after all,"

Hermione couldn't believe it. She had never imagined him capable of such merciless violence.

"Did you get em all?" He asked Mal.

Scorpius nodded his head, breathing heavily and trying to stop his nausea.

"You okay?"

"Yeah...," Scorpius swallowed still endanger of puking up. "that was pretty much the most awful thing I've ever seen but...I'm good,"

"Well, he tried to blow my head off, I just returned the favor," Albus chimed. "come on, we're leaving,"

A few hundred feet above their heads, Harry, Ron and the other Auror's had finally made it back to the Ministry by way of Apperating down the country. They were coming in quickly through the staff entrance.

The Atrium was deserted now. The hostages had fled through other entrances and exits or had taken to hiding on the other floors. Harry immediately spotted Teddy still lying unconscious on the ground. He rushed over to him.

"Teddy! Can you hear me?!"

Teddy slowly stirred and groaned. He grabbed the back of his head feeling around to see if it was bleeding.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked frantically.

"I've been better!"

"Where is he?"

"I don't know. He hit me as soon as they were in. I heard something about the Department of Mysteries just after they grabbed me," Teddy said getting to his feet.

"Get to the hospital!" Harry ordered.

"No, you need all the help you can get!"

"Do you have a wand?" Harry already knew the answer.

"No," Teddy sighed. "they left it back in Little Hagleton,"

"So go back and get it," Harry said quickly. He wanted Teddy out of harms way.

"Harry!" Ron yelled. He pointed towards the elevator that was on it's way up from the lowest level of the Ministry.

The assembled in front of the lift door forming a kind of firing squad with all wands pointed directly a head.

They watched nervously as the floor number above the lift counted down to their confrontation. The sound of a Ping rang out and the doors opened.

It was empty except for a single wooden stick lying on the floor. Hermione's wand.

A second Ping sounded out. The elevator to Harry's right had arrived. The doors were barely open before gunfire erupted from them. Several Auror's cast shield charms while other jumped and ducked for cover. Albus stepped out first, unloading his automatic pistol into Harry's shield. Rounds bounce off around the Atrium as Lincoln and Amelia dashed out, still firing.

Al's weapon clicked empty. He slammed a fresh clip in and continued to fire while Aurora and Scorpius made run for the Floo points on the wall. They ran straight for the only Floo point still working and disappeared into the emerald flames.

Al's weapon clicked empty again. He jammed in his last magazine but didn't fire. Instead he turned to see Hermione, still taking cover in the corner of the elevator. He held out his hand and she was lifted through the air towards him. He threw her in front of himself using her a human shield.

Lincoln and Amelia stopped firing. At the same time, Harry looked up to see Al's new hostage.

"Let her go Albus! You don't want to hurt her!" Harry yelled.

"Your mind reading skills aren't exactly the best, Dad! Drop the wands or we find out just how brainy Hermione really is!" He pushed the hot gun barrel against her temple.

"You're not well, Albus! You don't know what your doing! We wanna help you!" Harry pleaded still staying protected by his shield.

"Thanks for the offer but I've got more than enough help already!"

"Get that gun away from my wifes head!" Ron roared.

"We're your family! Please don't do this!" Hermione cried.

Albus paused for a second looking conflicted. "You know what...your right...I may have over reacted," He lowered the gun and pushed Hermione towards the Auror's. Ron immediately ran to her aid with his wand still trained on Albus.

"Maybe your right, Harry...I've misbehaved...," Albus sighed looking ashamed. "maybe I do need help...," He looked down at his feet. "but not half so much as you need sunglasses...,"

Just as Albus raised his arm into the air, Lincoln span and grabbed Amelia by the wrist. He phased causing both of them to turn nothing more than white gassy outline of two people. The most blinding white light imaginable suddenly erupted from his fist, like an enormous flash bang grenade!

Harry, Ron, Hermione and the other Auror's turned away covering the eyes.

The light vanished as quickly as it had arrived but it had been enough to seriously disorientate the Auror's. None of them could focus or reacquire Albus as a target. Harry desperately tried to get his baring.

He picked up on the unmistakable bursting sound of a floo point being used. Then a second.

His vision started to return. Standing next to the floo point with a grin on his face was Albus.

"The choice between what's right and what's easy, that's how you've always lived, so this should be easy for you!" He laughed. "Rebuild half the Ministry or try and disarm the bomb, your choice!" He pointed to the bomb vest that he had been wearing. It was now lying on the ground with the timer ticking down from 3 minutes 36 seconds. "Take your time!"

Albus was gone with a blast of green flames.

Harry rushed over to look at the bomb more carefully. He had no idea how to disarm a weapon like this and something told him that _Expelliarmus_ really wouldn't do the trick.

"Everybody out now!" Harry ordered the Auror's, some of which were still having trouble seeing.

The Auror's began heading for any exit they could. Harry glanced back at the timer. _2:51_

"Harry, come on!" Ron shouted.

Harry looked at him then back at the bomb. It would take years to re-build the Ministry. He couldn't let it happen. "Go, I'll be fine," He lied.

"Harry! You have no idea what your doing! None of us know how to disarm a bomb! That's why he brought it!" Hermione yelled.

"You just want us to leave and let it blow up?!"

"There's nothing we can do!"

_2:02_

"We can move it!" Harry tried.

"Where?" Ron asked.

Harry's brain worked frantically.

"The Veil!" Hermione yelped.

Harry pointed his wand at the bomb pack, levitating it over to the open elevator. He ran inside and hit the button from the Department of Mysteries, his eyes pinned to the timer. _1:41._

The lift wasn't moving fast enough. It took 30 seconds just to clear 4 floors and he needed to get to the 8th!

After what seemed like an eternity, the doors opened on the Department of Mysteries. He bolted out and down the corridor, _33 seconds_ left on the clock!

He sprinted past the Archives and then the Locked Door.

_21 seconds._

Through the rotating room and into the Time room.

_9 seconds._

He wasn't going to make it. The door was at the very end of the narrow room. He was beaten. He clutched his eyes shut.

_3...2...1..._

A noise that sounded almost like a spring filled his ears but that was all. There was no explosion or sudden trip back to the Train Station. He was alive.

The timer read _0:00_ and a small switch had flicked out of the side of it. Around the switch was a tiny piece of parchment. Harry, still in utter shock and shaking, pulled the piece of parchment and read it.

_HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!_

It was a hoax. Albus was never going to blow up the Ministry, he just needed time to escape!

==== HOGWARTS – SCOTLAND – UK – DECEMBER 19TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Albus arrived in the Gryffindor fireplace and stepped out where Aurora, Scorpius, Lincoln and Amelia were waiting.

"What a rush!" Al grinned.

Lincoln and Amelia sniggered while Aurora wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.

They moved quickly out of the portal to avoid any students that might be up late. They went straight for the headmasters office. The doors had barely opened before Rose shot through and flung her arms around Scorpius, kissing his still transfigured face.

"Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine," Scorpius nodded. He had already decided to never mention what happened back at the Ministry. Al had warned him that he would like it but he never expected anything like that!

"Al, are you sure we should be back here?" Scorpius asked.

"Well it's the last place they'll think to look and I'm not staying for long," Albus said quickly.

They walked inside quickly allowing the doors to seal behind them. Amelia and Aurora quickly removed the charms allowing their faces to return to normal. Scorpius wasn't sad to see his odd appearance depart.

James, Violet, Lynx, Hugo, Lily, Tannis and the Bobs were all their and seemed to be expecting some kind of play by play account of what happened. Instead over 30 files folders were dumped onto the floor in front of them.

"Your not gonna tell us what happened?" James asked.

"No. Start going through those, look for anything to do with electrical phenomenon," Albus said taking off his jacket.

Everyone grabbed a hand full of files and started to read. "Err...Albus," Bob one said. "Just so that Bob and myself aren't mistaken...we help you and you won't kill us?"

Albus looked a little puzzled. He looked at Lynx and Violet. "What did you tell them?"

"Pretty much everything...," Lynx admitted.

Albus sighed. "I promise I won't kill you," He assured.

"Can we get that in writing?" Bob Two asked.

"Or in an Unbreakable Vow?" Bob One suggested.

"I'm not making any Unbreakable Vows!"

"Alright then..., can we come with you the next time you rob your dads vault?" The Bobs looked very hopeful at that.

"Err...sure...,"

"Sweet," They said together before grabbing a few files from the floor.

"Athena Bellows...96 years old, I kinda doubt it," Lincoln mumbled and threw the file away from the others.

"Athena Oken...this is a man!" James blurted. "What kind of man gets named Athena?!"

"A sensitive man!" Bob Two said in the campest voice possible causing James and Hugo to chuckle.

"Athena Coolridge, died in Azkaban," Lily said tossing the file away.

Pretty soon the pile of useless information was bigger than the unchecked one.

"Wait...I think I've got a winner," Lynx said. "Athena Gorski...what is that Russian?"

"Polish," Al corrected.

"13 Years old. Wanted in connection with the deaths of 2 men and a woman in Lubin, Poland," Lynx continued. "Unidentified woman died from blood forced trauma caused by severe head injury..., 2 Unidentified men killed by sudden cardiac failure most likely caused by massive electric shock!"

"That's our girl!"

"Last spotted in the Brazil 6 months ago. There's nothing new after that,"

"Well, at least we have a starting point!" Amelia said.

"True, but we don't know how much the Cleric's know either. They made not have tried to kill her but I seriously doubt that they would stop watching her." Albus said.

"Well, maybe if you'd question him a little better...," Scorpius said a little too loudly. Albus shot a glare at him.

"Questioned who?" Rose asked instantly.

"It doesn't matter," Albus grumbled.

"Albus...what did you do?" Rose sounded like she didn't actually want to know.

Albus sighed, reading himself for the barrage of lectures he would undoubtedly receive. "We ran into a Cleric in the Ministry, I decided to was more prudent not to give him the chance to try and kill me again!"

"You killed him?" Rose breathed.

"Yes! He was one of the fuckers that attacked us in Venice!" Albus growled.

"Well clearly you care more about your vengeance than anything else!" Rose cried.

"I care about your safety! And none of you will be truly safe until they're all dead!" Albus roared. "This is for your protection!"

"And who's gonna protect us from you?!" Rose screamed, tears falling from her face.

That drove Albus back a step. He could smell her fear. The people he loved the most we terrified of him. He had no retort or defense against that. This was never part of the plan. They were supposed to trust him and support him. Luckily, the damage to Aurora's face hadn't effected her abilities to read Albus like a book. She walked over, stepping in front of him and glaring at Rose.

"It won't matter. We'll be out of your lives soon enough," She said coldly.

"Your leaving?!" Lynx gasped.

"Well it's pretty obvious that you don't want Albus around anymore and I won't let him go it alone again!" She hissed.

"I didn't mean it like th -"

"I know what you meant!" Aurora cut Rose off. "If you don't have the stomach for this stuff then we'll leave. You can blame whatever involvement you've had on us!"

Silence filled the headmasters office. Rose, still teary eyed, looked ashamed while everyone else simply didn't know what to say. Albus hadn't looked so vulnerable in a very long time.

"I'm going with you," A voice broke through. Everyone, including Aurora, Lincoln and Amelia were pretty shocked to see that it had actually come from Hugo!

Rose's face was pale white now. She couldn't move, let alone speak.

"No, Hugo," Albus said quietly. "you don't want to be a part of this,"

"I can fight! Everyone thinks I'm stupid! I'm not! I can help! And I don't want you to go!" Hugo yelled. It was probably the first time any of them had seen him display such determination.

"We know your not stupid, Hugo," Aurora smiled. "but we're doing this to try and make sure that no one else has too,"

"That doesn't mean you have to do it alone!" Lynx added.

"I'm not telling you to leave Albus!" Rose finally cried. "But you can't carry on like this!"

Lincoln came to Al's aid this time. "Rose, if we thought that we could survive and keep you all safe just by being good and peaceful we would do it. But that's not the world we live in. That was your parents world. Ours is darker and colder and more lonely than any other. Trust me, I wish it wasn't the case but it is,"

Rose had never looked so ashamed in her life.

"Nobody is throwing anyone to the wolves here," Tannis spoke softly. "It's simply a lot to take in... But you know that if you ever need help, we're here for you,"

Albus nodded.

"Err...Al," Bob One interrupted. "did you invite the Auror Department up here?" He was looking out of the headmasters window

"Oh Shit! How many?" He sighed.

"All of them, I think," Sure enough, 45 Auror's were making their way up from the Hogwarts Gates towards the castle.

"Last place they'd think to look huh?" Amelia remarked.

"What?! I control Gravity, I'm not Psychic!" Al snapped back.

"Everybody get into the Room of Requirement. Burn those flies, even Gorski's," Albus commanded, standing up. He checked his pistol but remembered that he had run out of rounds at the Ministry. He threw the gun to Lincoln.

"What are you gonna do?" Lincoln asked.

"I'm gonna have a little chat with my dear old dad!" Albus grinned.

"Albus," James walked over looking worried. "He's our father...don't do anything to make me hate you,"

"There's 45 of them James, it's not them you need to worry about!"

"What do you mean, they can't even hurt you?!" James snorted.

"I haven't been tested against everything and I've certainly never taken on 45 people at the same time! "

Concern washed over Aurora's face. "Albus...,"

"I'll be fine," He kissed her. "but if I'm not... If I'm not back in 30 minutes, no matter what's happened, you take all this lot and you...come and you rescue me!"

Aurora laughed. For a moment she thought he was going to be selfless and tell her to stay away, but that wasn't part of the plan.

Albus gave her one final loving kiss and headed for the door.


	29. Blood Lust Runs Thicker Than Water

==== BLOOD LUST RUNS THICKER THAN WATER ====

==== HOGWARTS – SCOTLAND – UK – DECEMBER 20TH – 2021 A.D. ====

Harry, Ron, Teddy, Hermione and every other that was trudging their way up the grounds towards the Hogwarts castle main entrance suddenly stopped in their tracks as the huge heavy doors opened in front of them.

They drew their wands and pointed them at the door as Albus casually walked out.

He grinned at them for a second then turned around to look back at the castle. "I bet this brings back memories for you guys. You are your army of good guys about to storm Hogwarts to stop the bad guy?"

He turned about around to face Harry. "The day that good triumphed over evil? That what your planning to do now, Harry?"

"No more games Albus...your coming with us," Harry stated.

"You're not still made about that fake bomb are you?" Albus laughed.

"I don't know what's happened to you Albus, but I promise, I fix it. We can help you," Harry was doing his very best not to act like his father. He had to be strong in front of everyone else otherwise they would loose their nerve as well.

"You really think I'm crazy don't you?"

"I haven't seen much to suggest otherwise!"

"Albus, it's the curse! The Dream Ripper curse, it's made you like this!" Hermione tried.

"Nature made me like this. I thought you would have figured that out by now!"

"Nature didn't make you a killer!" Harry growled.

"It made me better so that I could survive! Why would this world want me to survive, Harry?" Albus asked. "Maybe your not the only one with a Destiny,"

"And what is your Destiny Al?" Ron asked.

"It doesn't matter, I'm going to stop it," He watched the confusion was over them.

"By attacking the people that care about you?!" Harry hissed.

"I don't expect you to understand."

"Albus...why are you doing this?"

"I'm in love and I'm at war...alls fair," He smiled.

"We don't want to fight you Albus!" Hermione cried.

"You mean you don't want to get your asses kicked! I've taken it easy on you so far, I guess I was hoping you'd realize that you can't stop me but do not expect me to be that generous again!"

"I can stop you!" Harry started staring Albus down.

"Really? What's been keeping you? You been biding your time? Allowing 23 people to die?" He grinned sadistically.

"You'll pay for what you've done, Albus!"

"It's nothing compared to what I'm willing to do! What has to be done!"

"What?!" Harry didn't recognize his son anymore.

"Would you believe me if I said I was trying to save the world?" Albus asked in all seriousness.

"No!"

"Nah, didn't think so,"

"What exactly are you trying to save the world from?" Teddy spoke up.

"Something a lot worse than me," He said simply.

"You can't save anyone by doing evil!"

"You're wrong. The world has change since your time, Harry. Good is no longer strong enough and some day, your gonna learn that the hard way," Albus glared.

"Enough! You're under arrest!"

"You really have assessed the tactical situation very well have you? You have 45 people, out in the open, no cover, armed with weapons that can't hurt me and no backup! If I decide to fly out of here, how are you gonna stop me?" Albus was enjoying making them feel so small.

"Your ego is going to get you into trouble," Harry shot back.

"It already has. But then again, I think I have a right to be egotistical. Everything answers to gravity and gravity answers to me. I've already done more than you ever could. You're a hero to the wizarding world...but I'm the Chosen One now," He smiled.

Harry's eye actually twitched. He was mocking everything they suffered through the war.

"If you're so powerful...why couldn't you protect Aurora?" That stung Albus way more than anything else he could have said.

Albus clenched his fists. "Be careful," There was a darkness in Albus's voice that none of them had ever heard before.

"You're not a messiah Albus. You're not a Chosen One! You're just a very powerful child with a head full of bad wiring and I'm not going to let you hurt anyone else!" Harry spat.

"Really," The scent of fear was creeping up Al's nostrils feeding his need for vengeance. And worst of all it was coming from Hermione. The woman that had betrayed his mother with the man that was now challenging him. Albus grinned. "I suppose you better stop me then."

For a second time seemed to stand still. Nobody moved. Nobody even breathed. Then, in a heartbeat, Harry raised his wand.

Albus was too fast. A massive wave for energy hit them, throwing backwards 20 feet through the air.

The night sky was suddenly illuminated by dozens of different flashes of color. Spells blasted in every direction. Yelling and screaming erupted everywhere.

The Auror's had formed a circle around Albus and were unloading everything they had at him. He suddenly blasted into the air and was then lost to the skies above.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Teddy picked them selves up, eyes pinned to the sky, trying to catch a glimpse of which I direction he flew in.

Very faintly, a strange noise filled the grounds. Like a distant whistle that was quickly getting louder and louder. Harry spotted it first. What looked like a falling star was moving around the sky.

Fear gripped his stomach. "RUN!"

Everyone scattered, some heading for cover in the forbidden Forrest, others bolting for the castle.

The noise got louder and louder and now sounded like an incoming air raid bomb. A white ball of light slammed into the ground. Everyone was blasted off their feet and into the air.

The force of the impact was so strong that it sent 300 tonnes of dirt flying in every direction. Buildings in Hogsmead must have felt the collision. A massive dust cloud erupted and pushed out like a wave eventually hitting the walls of the castle.

Harry, covered in dirt, slowly picked himself off the floor. He hadn't let go of his wand through the blast. The dust made it almost impossible to see more than a few feet in front of his face. He never imagined any living thing go have that kind of power.

"Harry!" He heard Teddy's voice call from the distance.

"Teddy?!" He called back, trying to get a fix on his voice.

"What the ruddy ell was tha?!" Hagrid's voice echoed around. He had obviously been woken from his deep sleep by the quake.

"Marco!" Albus voice whispered from behind him.

Harry jumped and span around with his wand ready.

"Polo...," Harry span around again but couldn't see him. Albus was taunting him. "Marco...," Harry fired off a stunner that disappeared into the dust cloud. "POLO!"

Albus flew out of nowhere and landed a punch straight into Harry's chest. It sent him flying backwards, and into the icy water of the Black Lake. He quickly dragged himself out, shivering.

"Harry!" Teddy called out again.

"Arry, where are ya?!" Hagrid's voice followed.

Harry looked around but couldn't see a thing. In the distance he suddenly heard spell fire and shouting follow by what sounded like a tree being broken in half.

"HAGGER!" Grawp the Giant bellowed.

"Easy Gwarpy!"

Then more spell fire rained out, this time from near the castle. Someone suddenly flew right over Harry's head and splashed down into the lake behind him. He turned and dived back in, trying to spot who it was.

He spotted a limp body floating in the water, swam over and pulled it back to shore. It was Ron.

He was bleeding from the side of his head but didn't seem too badly injured. "Ron! Ron!" Harry shook him until he coughed up a bit of water. He groaned as he sat up.

"He is so grounded for this!" He mumbled.

A rushing sound of wind suddenly swept through the grounds and the dust began to clear. In the distance, Hermione was waving her wand like a whip through the air, sucking all the dust up. Grawp, Hagrid and Teddy became visible over by Hagrid's hut which didn't seem to have been damaged by Albus's attack.

Several Auror's were still lying on the floor covered in dirt.

"Ron, listen, I need you to keep him busy!" Harry said quickly.

"What?!" He looked around for his wand but had lost it after being hit.

"Trust me!" Harry said, running off towards the castle.

He looked around quickly and spotted what he was looking for. The White Marble tomb of his mentor. He ran over and with a quick wave of his wand, the tomb slowly opened.

Inside, the former Headmaster was still preserved as he had always been. His hands wrapped around the Wand of Destiny, exactly as Harry had left them 22 years ago.

"Forgive me," Harry breathed and slowly reached for the wand.

Across the grounds, Ron had started running over to Hermione when he suddenly skidded to a halt. Albus had just landed directly in front of him.

"You like what I've done with the place?" Albus nodded to the enormous crater that now took up half of the grounds. "This isn't your fight Ron, feel free to leave."

"No! Harry's right! We have to stop you!"

"Why are you listening to him? He's not the hero you think he is." Albus asked smoothly.

Ron looked confused.

"Heroes don't betray their friends and they certainly don't sleep with their brother-in-law's wife," Albus chimed.

Ron went pale. "I don't believe you!"

"You don't have to," Albus looked over his shoulder at Hermione who was reviving a knocked out Auror. "Ask her."

Suddenly something shot straight by Albus. He was hit in the chest by something that felt like a truck. It was so strong that his shield almost buckled under the pressure and he was thrown backwards, hitting the ground with a thud!

He got to his feet quickly and searched around. About 200 feet in front of him was Harry, a broom between his legs and none other than the Elder Wand in his hand.

"Now there's an Elder Wand!" Albus grinned.

Harry pushed off, jetting through the air, coming straight at Albus.

"Oh, you wanna play, come on!"

Harry continued shooting through the air with the Deathly Hallow aimed at his son.

"Come on, that's it, I want you to do it, come on! Come on, hit me!" Albus growled through his teeth. This was what he was waiting for. "HIT ME!"

He actually wanted him to do it. To use the most powerful wand in the world on him.

But Harry couldn't do it. He swerved at the last second, loosing control of the broom smashing into the ground.

Albus looked truly disappointed. He began walking over to Harry's limp body.

He spotted the Elder Wand lying on the ground in front of him. It shot through the air and into Albus' hand where he examined it for a second. That pathetic little stick had caused so much death and pain over the years. It was surreal to think about.

He suddenly snapped it in half. It was just like breaking a twig. Half of him had expected some gigantic release of power of final memorable moment of death, but nothing happened. It just confirmed Al's belief that hardware would never be as strong nature. He had honestly expected more from it.

He dropped the pieces of the defeated wand on the floor and carried on over to Harry.

He learned over, grabbed Harry by the shoulder and rolled him over. Just as he did, Harry made a massive swiping movement.

Albus felt something sharp and metal penetrate his body. Harry had stabbed him with some kind of syringe. Immediately he felt something coursing through his veins.

"You...are just determined to disappoint me, aren't you!" Albus growled, pulling the syringe out of his body. "What is it? Sleeping Draught?"

"Living Death," Harry breathed.

"Oh, not taking any chances are we...well, maybe there's hope for you yet,"

"Not me," Harry said, getting to his feet. "you. I don't care what it takes, I will bring you back!"

"You don't get it do you? I was always this way, It just took me a while to realize,"

"Nobody's born crazy!"

"I'm not crazy Harry! Crazy people don't have plans, I always have a plan!" Albus smiled. The dizziness started to take over and he fell to his knees suddenly feeling very tired.

"Yeah, well your plans are over!"

"No, not by a long shot!" Albus laughed as Teddy and several of the other Auror's walked over. "you didn't really think that I'd let a bunch of self righteous idiot's like you mess up my plans, did you? No, I have a back up plan and it's name...is Jack Daggra...why do you think I didn't kill him when I had the chance?" Albus continued to chuckle, revealing in his victory.

"What did you do?" Harry was afraid to ask.

"I might have pushed him a little too far. See revenge is...contagious and I've infected 's as hungry for vengeance as I am now. He'll never stop looking for me..." His skin was starting to turn pale.

Harry face dropped in horror.

"He's going to show you, how harsh and cruel the world is and maybe then, you'll finally open your eyes a little wider and realize why you need someone like me! Of course, when he finds me, he won't want me asleep, he'll want me wide awake, so he can hear me scream! He wants to make me suffer and nothing is gonna stand in his way..." Albus grinned, his eyes starting to glaze over. "See madness as you know, is like gravity...all it takes is a little push!"

Albus continued to laugh manically until he final passed out completely.

They had caught The Colossus but as he said, that was all part of his plan.

"I warned you about this, Harry,"

Everyone looked up to see Aurora standing a few feet away. No one knew when she had arrived but she had obviously heard everything.

Harry looked around at Teddy at the other Auror's. "Go check on our people. Send an Owl to the Ministry, make sure they know we're coming,"

They dispersed in different directions leaving an exhausted Harry to be stared down by Aurora.

"He's right," She said coldly. "Jack will kill every single person you care about until he finds Albus. Very soon, you'll be begging for his help. Whether or not he gives it to you, is up to him,"

Harry didn't know what to say and before he could think of anything, Aurora had turned her back and started walking towards the castle.

"Do your self a favor, don't take him to the Ministry. Hide him somewhere. Make it more difficult for them to find him and you might actually stand a chance," She said before leaving.

Harry rubbed his face. The last time he had defeated an enemy far more powerful than him, it had ushered in a new world of tolerance and peace. They had been hailed as heroes and worshiped for the rest of their lives. There had been non-stop celebrations and happiness.

But this time, something felt terribly wrong. Albus's words has hit him a lot harder than he thought. What he had said about good not being strong enough anymore was the most worrying. He feared that Albus would be proved right and that it would cost them so much.

He looked over to see Hermione, on her knee's looking like she had just received the Dementor's Kiss. She wasn't crying, she was just shaking and pale white.

Harry walked over to her. "Hermione...?"

She slowly turned her head and looked up at him. "He knows...," He voice was hollow. "He's gone...,"

Harry felt like his heart was being squeezed. He wanted to throw up. He didn't know whether or not Ron would tell Ginny and he didn't even want to entertain the possibility. Harry knew he would have to confess to her. It was time for him to pay for his crimes.

Inside the Castle, Aurora returned to the Room of Requirement where everyone was still waiting for her.

"Well?" Lincoln asked quickly.

"They got him," She stated.

"So how do we get him back?" James asked.

"We don't," Aurora said simply, not an ounce of worry in her voice.

"What?!" Scorpius blurted.

"they have no idea how to deal with an Anomaly," Amelia explained. "They'll keep pumping him full of potions but eventually, he'll develop an immunity to them, then he'll wake up by himself,"

"Exactly. But there's still a chance the Cleric's might find him before that. Or worse, you guys." Aurora said.

"Us?"

"Albus has crippled their organization. They'll use whatever resources they can get now, including taking you guys hostage. We have to keep you safe and hope that Harry can protect Albus until he wakes up. I'm going to suggest that you stay at my place for the moment," Aurora said quickly.

"We can Dissaparate from Hogsmead," Amelia agreed. "Take two at the time."

"Okay," Aurora sighed. "Rose, Hugo, Lily, James, stay here for a minute, we need to talk."

"About what?" Lily asked.

"About your parents,"

==== CLERIC'S TEMPLE – LOCATION UNKNOWN – JANUARY 6th – 2022 A.D. ====

Lisa power walked through the tunnels towards Mathis' destroyed Lab. Inside, he was sifting through the wreckage, trying to salvage anything he could. 9 years of work had been annihilated by a single grenade.

Marshall was leaning against the wall watching him. "We know it's Potter now Mathis. We don't need a vaccine anymore,"

"Let's just say it's for sentimental value...," Mathis said prying open his broken safe.

Inside only a few vials had survived he blast.

"Sir," Lisa interrupted. "you're not going to believe this!"

"What is it MacKay?"

"They've got him! They captured him 2 weeks ago at Hogwarts!" She was clearly still a little shocked about this.

"I thought he got away?"

"That's just what they told everyone! I managed to put an Unspeakable under the Imperious curse, he told me that Harry managed to stick Albus with Draught of Living Death during the fight. They were able to sneak him into the Ministry and are holding him somewhere inside the Department of Mysteries right now.

"Your sure?!" Mathis asked.

"Yes!"

"If they pumped him full of Living Death 2 weeks ago then we've only got a few days before he snaps out of it!" Mathis said quickly.

"Alright...," Marshall thought for a second. "Organize everyone we have left. Get them down her and ready. We've got no time to be subtle on this one, we just have to get it done!"

Lisa shot out of the lab as quickly as she could.

"What about Jack?" Mathis asked. "should he be told?"

"No! He's the reason Albus isn't already dead! He screwed up! We don't need him,"

Marshall walked out of the Lab and down the hall, heading into the man hall, completely unaware that Jack Daggra had in fact been listening to the whole thing from the hall way.

He walked into the lab looking murderous. There was no way in hell that he was staying away now that he knew where his brothers killer was.

"Jack...," Mathis knew he had heard them.

"You think you can keep me away from this?!" Jack growled.

"You're not thinking straight! Let us handle this!"

"My brother is dead!"

"And he'll pay for that! But we can risk loosing him again!" Mathis pleaded.

"So you think I did this?" Jack glared at Mathis. "You think I'm the reason he got away?"

"We had him Jack, you woke him up!"

"He planned to be caught!"

"He planned for you to wake him up!" Mathis shot back.

Jack span around and booted a broken computer as hard as he could in frustration. He looked deranged. "You have to let me do this Mathis!"

"I'm sorry Jack," Mathis sighed. "It's not my decision...,"

"That's too bad...," Jack turned with his pistol draw and fired.

Mathis was hit in the shoulder and thrown backwards onto the floor. He clutched his wound as blood started running down his chest.

"It wasn't a request!" Jack growled. He walked over to Mathis' safe and looked inside.

He found the one he was looking for. _Serum 42._

"Wait! What are you doing!" Mathis panicked.

"What I have to!"

"Jack...you've seen what that can do! You'll become a -" Mathis never got to finish. He had spun around with his wand pointed and petrified him. He then cast a Disillusionment Charm over him, causing him to sink in with the floor.

"This is for you, Brother," He pocketed the serum and left.

==== MINISTRY OF MAGIC – LONDON – UK – JANUARY 6TH – 2022 A.D. ====

Harry had never looked so ill in his whole life. But then, his left had never come crashing down so hard before. His wife had walked out on him and had even left the country to get away. She was now staying with Charlie in Romania and refusing to speak to him. As was one of his sons. James had outright screamed his hatred at his father and told him that he wasn't coming home. Lily was the only one that had tried to show some forgiveness towards him. Although, she barely spoke she had explained that Aurora was keeping him safe at the moment.

Hugo and Rose had likewise disappeared off with James leaving Hermione in a terrible state. She tried to pretend that nothing was wrong but Harry had found her crying on more than one occasion. Ron hadn't been seen or heard from in weeks. Some of his clothes were missing from his home and he had left his Aurorship badge there.

And on top of all that, hundreds of feet below him, his second son was lying in a magically induced coma, his heart beating once a minute. Harry's family had been torn to pieces and he was the one to blame for it all.

And yet, the press and the public who were none the wiser still cheered his name. They had printed stories of his heroic attempt to defeat the Colossus and how he had driven him away from Hogwarts and how it would only be a matter of time before he brought him to justice.

Every time he saw one of those stories he wanted to scream.

He looked at the picture of them all hugging and smiling on his desk and suddenly he couldn't stop the tears from falling from his eyes.

Today was Albus's birthday. He wished that he could simply wake up and find that it was all just a horrible dream, a figment of his imagination. But it wasn't.

And neither were the 12 Cleric's that had just entered the Atrium.

==== CHARRING CROSS STATION – LONDON – UK – JANUARY 6TH – 2022 A.D. ====

At this time of night, the stations were often quite eerie. Something about the way the wind carried through the maze of tunnels. But the Security Guard had gotten used to it. More often than not, he would find lost pets, homeless people and drunks down there but nothing worse than that.

He continued down the tunnels until he came out onto the southbound platform.

There was yet another quick burst of wind and the shrieking sound of a tube train arriving on another platform.

He continued to move down until he saw a man slumped up against the wall.

"Oi, you can't sleep down here!" The guard yelled but the man took no notice.

Then he noticed the syringe in his hand.

"Fuckin' Junkies!" He walked towards him quickly, cursing under his breath.

The Man injected the needle into his arm.

"That's it! I'm callin' Old Bill!" He growled.

The man suddenly started convulsing violently. He flipped around on the floor, screaming and gargling. Then a horrible cracking noise filled the air as the mans torso actually started to get bigger. His bones broke, extended and reformed.

"Oh my god!" The guard breathed in horror.

His skin began to stretch and harden. Muscles bulged all over his body. Hair began to cover his body. The screams became monstrous growls.

The guard took off down the tunnel the moment he saw the man's mouth and nose extend into a long snout. His ears became pointed and pushed back and huge razor sharp teeth extended inside his mouth.

Jack Daggra had literally become a monster. A ten foot tall, 1600 pound monster.

A blood thirsty roar shook the entire Tube station.


	30. The Beast

==== THE BEAST ====

==== MINISTRY OF MAGIC – LONDON – UK – JANUARY 6TH – 2022 A.D. ====

Harry was exhausted. Not from being overworked but simply from lack of sleep. Every time he stopped at allowed his mind to wonder all it did was find it's way back to Ginny and James and Lily and most often, Albus.

He walked out of his office and through the empty Auror Department. For one of the first times ever, Harry had actually stay to work later than Hermione. She had recently started taking her work home with her. Whether it was to get out of the office or for something to keep her mind on when she was alone in her house, he didn't know.

He headed for a the large pot of coffee that was floating just about a table with a low flame under it. He poured himself a large cup.

"You planning on sleeping here?" Teddy voice came from behind him.

"I was thinking about it," Harry yawned.

"When was the last time you went home?"

"You can hardly call that a home anymore...,"

Teddy sighed.

"Go home and see your wife, Teddy,"

"Is that an order?" Teddy smiled.

"Yes, go!"

Suddenly there was a rumble and the ground trembled. Dust fell from the cracks in the ceiling and a few bit and pieces fell off the sides of desks.

"What the hell was that?" Teddy blurted.

Harry and Teddy rushed out of the office. The moved quickly down the hall towards the elevators when a ghostly pale blue dog rushed up to them. It's mouth opened and a mans voice echoed out.

"Harry, get down to level 3! Something just busted it's way right through the wall from the Underground tunnels! We're going to try and...WHAT THE FU -"

The Patronus disappeared into nothing.

A monstrous roar echoed around the Ministry. Harry and Teddy's eyes went wide.

"Teddy...," Harry breathed. "get everyone out of here right now!"

Teddy bolted back into the Auror office and over to the back wall. He ran straight up to a cloudy blue orb that was attached in the corner and smashed it with a blast from his wand. Alarms suddenly started blaring on every single floor of the Ministry causing people to drop everything and evacuate to the Atrium.

There was a second rumble that shook the office again. This one felt a lot closer.

Teddy ran back out of the office and down the corridor. He cut left past a large group of wizards that were rushing for the elevators and then right past more offices.

Suddenly he skidded to a halt. A mangled body lay against the wall and blood had been plastered all over the walls. Directly behind it, the elevator had been completely destroyed and sounds of screaming were coming from below.

Teddy ran to the left for the emergency stairs that linked the levels. He bolted down them and onto Level 3.

As soon as he stepped out he was looking straight at a battlefield. Severed limbs and corpses lay everywhere. You couldn't walk without stepping in blood.

Spelled burst off the walls and danced around the corridors illuminating the shadow of a great hulk creature around the corner just seconds before a scream cut the air followed by another terrifying roar.

More spells fire lit up the corridor. Terrified as he was, he couldn't do nothing. Teddy took a deep breath and ran towards the fire. He reached the corner and collided with something hard.

"TEDDY! RUN! RUN! GO!" Harry screamed, dragging him off the floor and pulling him back down the corridor. The ground shook with footsteps and the monster roared again. It was right behind them.

They didn't look back. They just ran!

They bolted for the stairs. The wall exploded next to them and the beast took a swipe.

They got to the stairs and charged up. Another roar almost burst their eardrums as the monster slammed straight into the wall. It was took big to get into the emergency stairway. It smashed and clawed at the walls trying to break through.

Harry and Teddy didn't stop. They bolted up the stairs but as they did, Teddy looked over his shoulder.

It was enormous. Unlike anything he'd ever seen like some kind of grossly deformed werewolf, it's face and hands covered in blood and matted hair. It's eyes were completely pale milky white, like a sharks when it bit down.

He stop to look at it again. They got to Level 2 but didn't stop there. They continued to shot up the stairs and into the Atrium.

"What is that thing?!" Teddy yelled.

"I don't know!"

In the Atrium, about 30 or 40 people were lined up at the floo points, waiting to leave. Castle and 3 other Auror's were helping to make sure they got out safely. Teddy and Harry ran straight over to them.

"Go now! Get out right now! Don't stop!" They yelled at the same time causing people to panic and push their way forwards.

"We've got to get someone to seal the hole on Level 3 and lock down the Ministry!" Harry yelled.

"Trap it inside?" Teddy asked.

"Trap what inside?! What's going on?!" Castle asked frantically.

"I don't know what else to do, magic doesn't work on it!" Harry panicked.

The Atrium shook and the sound of twisting metal filled the air. Harry and Teddy looked around towards the Elevators. They could hear stone being broken and smashed and then more metal being torn apart.

The doors were blasted off and the beasts monstrous head peer out, sniffing the air and growling. It had ripped it's way up through the elevator shaft! People screamed and rushed for the exits.

The Auror's opened fire but every spell simply bounced straight off it. It roared and charged at them.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Castle yelled and green light erupted from the tip of his wand.

It hit the charging monster square in the chest and blasted it backwards. It slumped to the ground not moving.

For a second, no one breathed. Then sighs of relief broke out. People didn't stop to look at it though, they continued to push for the exits as quickly as they could.

A low growl filled the Atrium and the beast began to twitch. It started convulsing and gargling in pain.

To their complete horror, it's bones started to extend and it's muscle grew bigger. It let out another almighty roar and got to it's legs. The monster was now 12 feet tall and weight at least 1800 pounds!

It jumped through the air, straight at Castle. He ran but wasn't quick enough. With a massive heavy strike, the beast cleaved him completely in two.

Harry knew when he was outmatched. He grabbed Teddy and bolted for the exit as the monster charged again. Teddy floo'd away and just a heartbeat before it lunged, so did Harry.

==== AURORA'S HOUSE – VENICE – ITALY – JANUARY 6TH – 2022 A.D. ====

Aurora was restless. She couldn't stand to simply sit in the living room with the others, watching a movie like they did every night. Her frustration had only mounted from being around the Potters and Weasley's. They had been walking around like zombies for the last week or so. The initial anger of finding out about their parents infidelity had vanished and been replaced by lonely depression.

Rose had been hit hardest by it. She had always looked up to her mother as a shining example to follow, someone amazing to live up to. Now she didn't know what to think. But at least she had Scorpius' arms arms wrapped around her on a regular basis.

Aurora had no one there for her. The man she loved and swore to protect was imprisoned somewhere and the only thing that she could do was sit around and wait for him to escape.

"What are doing?!" Violet whined.

"I've seen this about 6 times already!" James moaned.

"So! It's a classic!" Lynx objected.

Aurora stared out the window and tried to block out their tantrums.

"Yeah, and I'll be happy to watch it again in a year or so but not now! What else is on?"

"I vote Die Hard!" Hugo blurted.

"Nah, James Bond!" Scorpius added.

"Matrix!"

"Violence and death, haven't we had enough of that?" Rose sighed.

"Fine, anything but Titanic though!" James huffed.

Aurora blinked. She wasn't sure if what she was seeing was real or not. Across the street was a large neon sigh that often showed advertisements or breaking news reports but at this moment it was saying: _Pick up the phone Aurora._

The faint sound of ringing caught her ears. The pay phone across the street.

She knew the Cleric's had a general idea of where she lived but they had never managed to actually find the house. It would certainly be the first time that they tried to lure her out of it.

"Stay here," She said grabbing her wand and heading for the door.

She very cautiously walked out of the house, looking in every single direction for possible attacks. The phone continued to ring. She approached slowly, certain that it was some kind of trick. She hesitantly picked up the receiver.

"Hello,"

"Aurora, I've been trying to get hold of you for an hour!" A male voice said.

"Who is this?"

"I'm the man that made Lincoln and Amelia Shakespeare orphans,"

Aurora gritted her teeth. "What do you want?" She hissed.

"You have to find Albus right now!"

"What?!" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You think I'm actually going to -"

"Just listen!" He cut her off. "For years I've been working on a possible formula to transform an Anomaly into a human. I was getting close but some of my attempts had side-effects. One in particular had extremely dangerous effects. Jack Daggra has stolen that serum and has used it on himself!"

"That's your problem," Aurora was seriously tempted to hang up.

"That's every body's problem now! The serum causes massive mutations and immunity to almost all magic!"

"Almost all?"

"The Killing Curse. It reacts to that like a growth enhancement making it stronger and more powerful. He shot me, took the serum and used it. Now he's tearing his way through the Ministry killing anything in his path and hes not going to stop until he finds Albus!"

"Like I said, he's your problem, you deal with it!" Aurora growled.

"We would, except he just killed almost all of our people! We sent 12 in and only 3 made it out! We don't have the means to fight him but you do! Find Albus!"

"And what if I say no?"

"Then everyone in London is going to have a really bad day!" The phone went dead.

Aurora thought for a second then ran back to the house.

"What going on?" Lynx asked.

"Something big just went off in London! We need to find Albus right now!" Aurora pulled out her wand.

Without saying a word, a beautiful and ghostly Phoenix erupted from her wand and shot straight out of the window. She then ran into the Kitchen and returned a few seconds later with a frying pan. She aimed her wand at the pan and whispered "Portus," The pan glowed blue for a moment then subsided.

"Aurora! You can make a Port Key?!" Rose blurted.

"Now is not the time Rose!" Aurora said urgently. "Grab it!"

Everyone touched a different part of the pan and suddenly they were pulled into a whirlwind of light and noise.

==== CHARRING CROSS – LONDON – UK – JANUARY 6TH – 2022 A.D. ====

Their feet touched the ground just outside the Leaky Cauldron. As soon as everyone had picked themselves off the floor and shaken the dizziness from their heads, they went inside.

It was close to midnight but the pub was packed full of frightened people. Many of the Ministry workers that had been able to escape had come here to seek refuge. Some where having injuries seen to by other wizards and witches while most were simply huddled in groups wondering what to do.

Aurora and the others pushed their way through the people towards the portal to Diagon Alley. The wall shifted and opened and they stepped through.

The street was even more packed than the pub. She spotted Harry, Teddy, Hermione and several other Auror's just down the street. She walked towards him quickly.

"We've done our best to seal it off but we simply can't get to certain parts of the Ministry to secure them!" An Auror reported.

"The breach in the Charring Cross tunnel has been blocked but there's two other tunnels that run along the walls of the Ministry!" Another said.

"I think we need to call for international assistance," Hermione said quickly.

"No," Aurora interrupted. "you need to bring in the heavy artillery. Where's Albus?"

"Aurora!" Harry was even more shocked to see James, Rose, Hugo, Lynx, Violet and Scorpius standing behind her. "No! You can't be here! James, take them and go home right now!"

Hermione didn't listen to Harry. She walked right by him and hugged her children both of which subtly return her embrace.

"Where is Albus?" Aurora raised her voice.

"He's locked up in the Department of Mysteries. He should be safe there." Teddy said quickly.

"No, he not," Harry admitted. "I never brought him back to the Ministry,"

"What?!" Hermione and Teddy gasped.

"Smart move," Aurora said quietly.

"You told everyone that you -"

"I didn't know who to trust!" Harry yelled.

"Well, where ever he is, we need to get him right now!"

"You want me to send my son against that thing?!" Harry hissed. "forget it!"

"It's looking for him! It won't stay locked up in the Ministry for long and when it gets out, it'll tear it's way through this city until it finds him!"Aurora growled.

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked.

"That thing used to be Jack Daggra. The one he warned you about!"

"Why is this Jack guy after him anyway?" Teddy asked.

"Albus killed his brother," Aurora didn't have time to beat around the bush.

Harry looked like he was about to through up.

"It doesn't matter how it got here, what matters is what we do now! Albus is the only one strong enough to fight that thing!" Aurora barked.

"I just watched that thing tear people apart, you think I'm gonna feed my own son to it?!"

"It's immune to magic! What are you gonna do, shout at it?! We need Albus!"

"NO!" Harry roared.

Aurora was so angry she actually went for her wand!

"Aurora!" Scorpius intervened. "It's okay, we'll figure something out," He tugged her arm away from Harry. The moment their backs were turned Scorpius whispered. "Legilimens."

Aurora nodded, aimed her wand and was suddenly spring boarded into Harry's head. A second later she started walking away.

"They have him in a safe house just outside of Manchester," She said. They walked back through the portal and into the Leaky Cauldron, again pushing their way through the crowds of people. They walked through the door and almost collided with Lincoln and Amelia.

"What's the plan?" Lincoln asked.

"It's our turn to rescue Albus," Aurora said quickly.

==== BLACKLEY – MANCHESTER – UK – JANUARY 6TH – 2022 A.D. ====

Aurora and Amelia Apparated 2 people at a time into the street just opposite an industrial estate. The area looked exactly the way she had seen it in Harry's head. A row of warehouses to the left and a large factory on the right. Just behind them was a wide open plot of land with a rundown, disused cafe in the center that Aurora knew was actually the Ministry safe house.

Unfortunately, even she couldn't get around the Fidelius Charm that was protecting it.

"You sure this is the place?" Lincoln asked.

"I'm sure,"

"You know what happens if your wrong,"

"I'm not, he's in there," Aurora pressed.

"What, what happens if your wrong?" Hugo asked.

"Tell ya later," Lincoln said quickly and started walking towards the cafe.

Aurora looked around for a second. "Left side of the door," She said.

Lincoln approached the door and pushed against the wall beside it. He took a deep breathed and suddenly his hands disappeared inside, followed by his arms and then his whole body. Hugo's jaw dropped.

"I wanna be an Anomaly!"

Suddenly Lincoln melted back out of the wall. "Everyone hold on to somebody else," He ordered. They quickly linked hands.

"I hate doing this!" Aurora sighed.

Lincoln grabbed her hand and walked directly into the wall. Just before he touched it, everyones bodies shuddered, like they were been sprayed by a very powerful water hose. Hugo yelped as his watched his limbs transform into a silky vapor. Lincoln dragged them all straight through the wall.

When they rematerialized on the other side, they weren't standing inside a broken old cafe, they were in what looked like some kind of factory standing at the end of a long, well lit corridor that dipped at the end.

Amelia and Lincoln took point. They headed forwards as the corridor became a tunnel. At the very end, it split off it to two different directions. Just as the group neared the fork, alarms started ringing out.

"I think we tripped something..." Rose worried.

"Can't worry about that now!" Aurora said pulling her wand out.

Three Auror's came bolting around the corner and started firing. Aurora shielded the group while Lincoln and Amelia went for the guards. Amelia was quick to disarm one of them and then landed a kick right in the face of another.

Spells passed straight through Lincoln's phased body as he laid a massive punch into the third guards face. The fight was over before it even begun. Rose threated as the group moved passed the knocked out guards.

"I'm so sorry about this!" She begged the unconscious men.

They moved down the left corridor towards a large metal door at the end. As soon as they were in front of it Amelia tried to open it. She recoiled and cursed after a small electric shock was sent through her hand.

"Lincoln," Aurora nodded at the door.

Lincoln stepped forward, phased and walked through without taking a scratch. As soon as he was through, the sounds of spell fire, followed by the sounds of several thumps could be heard from the other side. The door made an odd sound like it was relaxing, then the locks unbolted.

The door was opened by Lincoln who was biting one of his finger nails. "Broke a nail," He mumbled.

Inside, other than the 3 knocked out guards was a room that looked very similar to the Potions Classroom at Hogwarts. Vials, cauldrons and small odd looking instruments were everywhere.

Albus was lying on a table at the very back of the room. A long plastic tube led from a small keg on the floor, over his body and straight up his nose. He looked completely pale, like he had been swimming in a frozen lake for a few hours.

They rushed over to him and Aurora pressed her ear to his heart. After a few seconds there was a single thump. She took hold of the tube coming from his left nostril and slowly began to pull. There was a good 6 inches of slack before the tip finally came out followed by a small dribble of blood. They had resorted to actually pumping the Draught straight into his brain.

"Albus...it's me...open your eyes baby," She wiped the blood away from his face.

It was a full 30 seconds before even the slightest movement came from him. His eyes flickered slightly and one of his fingers twitched.

"That's it...come on....wake up," Aurora whispered soothingly to him.

Eventually his eyes opened a crack. "You took ya time...," He mumbled tiredly.

"Sorry, Traffic," She smiled and kissed him.

Amelia put her arm around his back and slowly lifted him up. Some colour started to return to his skin but not much.

"What's wrong with him?" Scorpius asked.

"He's still got Living Death swimming around in his body!" Amelia snapped quickly.

"He's not fully immune to it yet. We need to get him to a hospital," Aurora pulling Al's arm over her shoulder. He had almost no control of his limbs whatsoever.

"We can't just wonder into the St. Mungo's!" Rose shrieked.

"We're not! We need to get him to a muggle hospital," Aurora said quickly. "there's one not far from here,"

==== CHARRING CROSS – LONDON – UK – JANUARY 7TH – 2022 A.D. ====

Pedestrians walking by could feel the tremors. Most of them stopped and looked around expecting to see something heavy moving down the road.

The ground cracked and swelled. The street lamps and windows shook with every rumble. Suddenly Charring Cross Road exploded as the Beast broke out of the ground. It had actually dug it's way through the roof of the Ministry!

People screamed in terror and ran in every direction.

A car screeched to a halt and the monster pulled it's self out of the hole. It's roared and instantly targeted the car, picking it up like it was a football and launching it through the air.

The car impacted with the street and exploded sending debris everywhere.

It roared again before charging left and smashing it's way through the side of a HI-FI shop, pulverizing anything in it's path.

Harry, Teddy, Hermione and the other Auror's bolted around the corner just in time to see The Beast bust it's way through the other side of the shop.

"Harry, there's muggles everywhere! What do we do?!" Teddy asked frantically.

"We worry about that later! Just protect them!" Harry ordered and ran towards The Beast with his wand drawn.

Spells shot through the air, smacking into the side of the Beast and bouncing straight off. It roared and charged straight at them.

He didn't know where it came from or what made him shout it or even how it actually worked, but with his target locked, Harry screamed: "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Prongs exploded from the tip of his wand and ran straight at the charging monster. It collided with it's chest, slamming it backwards against a car. The Beast roared again.

"USE YOUR PATRONUS!"

Bellowing the same spell, an Otter, a Wolf and several other ghostly animals blasted through the air, slamming into the Beast and driving it back.

An Ethereal white fox shot forwards from behind them and collided with the monsters head, dazing it slightly. Harry turned to see Draco standing behind him with his wand raised.

"What the fuck is that?!" He yelled.

"I don't know but it's not friendly!"

==== NORTH MANCHESTER GENERAL HOSPITAL – UK – JANUARY 7TH – 2022 A.D. ====

Aurora and Amelia burst through the automatic doors of the hospital with Albus still draped over their shoulders.

"Please Help! Somebody, he's Overdosed!" Aurora yelled none to convincingly.

A nurse quickly ran over as Aurora and Amelia laid a barely conscious Albus onto the floor.

"What did he take?" The nurse asked.

"I don't know, something new," Aurora said quickly.

A doctor ran over and crouched beside the nurse.

"His vitals are very low!" The nurse said checking his pulse.

Scorpius spotted the TV in the corner. The news had a digital picture of London with a red spot over Charring Cross. The headline read: EMWild Animal loose in London./EM

"Let's get him into Emergency and -" The doctor was cut off.

"No! He needs a shot of Adrenaline right now!" Aurora snapped.

"I'm sorry miss but we can't administer treatment until we know what's wrong -"

Aurora didn't wait for him to finish the sentence. She reached over and pull Lincoln's pistol from his trousers and pointed it straight at the doctor causing the nurse and several patients to scream.

"He needs Adrenaline, right now!" She growled.

The doctor raised his hands and tried to remain calm. "This is a hospital. We help people. You don't need the gun."

"Give him the shot and we'll be on our way!" She demanded.

"Listen to me -"

"GIVE HIM THE FUCKING SHOT!" She roared.

"Alright...alright...nurse, 10cc's of Adrenaline," The doctor said quickly. The terrified nurse stood up and headed for the door.

"No, more! Give him 50." Aurora ordered.

"That will overload his heart! It'll kill him!" The doctor warned.

"He can take it!" Aurora looked at the frozen nurse. "You, go!"

She jumped at her words and ran off down the corridor. Aurora turned and looked at the TV screen. The headline at change_. Monster in London?_

A scared man in his early 20's was on the screen. Fire and sounds of shooting were echoing in the background. "It's _BEEP_ huge! It was throwing _BEEP_ cars around and killing people!" He yelled quickly.

Much to her surprise, the nurse actually did return with a large syringe and small bottle of clear liquid. The doctor stuck the end of the needle into the bottle and extracted 50cc's as Aurora had ordered.

He hesitated.

"In the heart...DO IT!"

The doctor jammed the needle up, under Albus's chest plate and into his heart. He pushed down on the plunger.

Albus's eyes bulged and shot open. His body spasmed for a second then he shot up, breathing heavily. He quickly yanked the needle out of his body.

"You okay?" Aurora asked.

"Where is he?!" Albus growled. His whole body was running like a freight train as energy surged through his system.

"Charring Cross," Scorpius said.

"Stay here, do not come to London!" He ordered.

"No, I'm staying with you!"

"If he sees you he'll go for you! All of you!" Albus said quickly.

"Why?"

"Because he knows that it would kill me if anything happened to you!" Albus headed for the automatic doors leaving the doctor, nurse and several other patients in shock. "let me handle this!"

He stepped outside and blasted himself into the air.

==== CHARRING CROSS – LONDON – UK – JANUARY 7TH – 2022 A.D. ====

Sirens filled the air as a Scotland Yard Armed Response Unit van screeched to a halt on the other side of the street. Men in combat gear, armed with MP5's, jumped out of the back of the van and immediately started firing at the Beast.

Bullets ripped through it's skin causing the Beast to become even more enraged. The spent lead shells were pushed out of it flesh and the wounds healed up instantly. Along with hardened tissue, immeasurable strength and it's other wolven qualities, The Beast had inherited spontaneous regeneration.

"Keep firing! Push it back!" Harry ordered.

"Harry! You're using magic in front of muggles!" Draco objected.

A huge roar filled the air as the Beast picked up a Black Taxi Cab and hurled it straight at the Police Van. It smashed straight into the side of it, toppling it over and causing the armed police to scatter and run for cover.

"We have to help them!" Hermione screamed firing her Patronus at the Beast again.

This time it swiped at it just before it could connect. The Otter exploded into a gassy cloud and disappeared. Next to her, two police officers looked at her with as much shock as they did The Beast.

The Monster picked up another car and like a giant metal harpoon, lunched it towards Harry and the other wizards. The jumped out of the way and the vehicle slammed straight past them and smashed into the building behind them.

The collision knocked a large electric sigh loose from the roof. The support cables snapped and the sigh plummeted towards the ground right above Hermione. She looked up in terror just as she was tackled out of the way and to the ground.

She looked up to see that her rescuer was in fact the same man that had called her 'Mudblood' for most of her childhood.

"You alright?!" Draco asked frantically.

Hermione was still in shock but managed to nod. He grabbed her and ran her towards cover.

The Beast charged at the police, smacking them out of the way like toy soldiers! It spotted Harry and ran at him.

Harry tried to run but the monster was faster and most agile. He jumped over a car, landing right in front of him. It's huge crane like hand grabbed Harry by the chest and slammed him into the wall behind him. The Beast moved it's face closer to his, snarling as it did.

"HARRY!" Hermione screamed trying to rush to his aid but was being held back by Draco and Teddy.

The Police couldn't get a shot off without possibly hitting Harry in the process.

The Beast raised it's other hand and using it's razor sharp claws, began carving something into the wall next to his head. It sounded a hundred times worse than nails on a chalk board. Harry clutched his eyes such and gritted his teeth until the screeching ended. He turned his head to see.

The Beast had carved a single word in the wall. _COLOSSUS_

Harry knew exactly what it meant. Aurora was right. He wanted Albus. Jack had lost almost every part of himself during his transformation. There was no full moon and there would be no turning back. The only thing he had left was his blood lust, his memories of the pain caused to him and his need for revenge.

"Go to hell!" Harry growled.

The Beast roared and threw him like a rag doll, bouncing him off the roof or a car and into the middle of the street. Pain bit into his body and he knew his arm was broken. The ground trembled with the Beasts foot steps as he walked up behind him.

It grabbed him by the should and extend it's jaws. Harry smelt it's putrid breath as it started to bring it's teeth down onto his head.

But the bite never came. The monster had stopped and started sniffing the air. Without warning it dropped Harry and started walking down the street, growling with delight.

Everyone turned to see what it was looking at. A Hundred meters down the straight road was Albus, staring with equal menace at what used to be Jack Daggra.

The real fight was about to begin.


	31. Revenge

==== REVENGE ====

==== CHARRING CROSS – LONDON – UK – JANUARY 7TH – 2022 A.D. ====

The two behemoths stared at each other for a moment. This is what they had been waiting for. The main event. Like Harry and Voldemort only this time there would be no sudden revelations. No twists of fate regarding magical objects, no monologuing and certainly no chances for remorse

This was about blood, pain and death. It was all they wanted.

And the moment that became clear was the same moment they charged. Both monsters built momentum and ran for each other as fast as they could.

Harry, Hermione, Teddy, Draco and everyone else that wasn't running in fear watched in suspended disbelief.

The ground rumbled, cars shook and people ran as they closed the distance. Both leapt into the air and collided with the force of a pair of bullet trains hitting head on.

They span in mid air and smashed back into the ground. Albus back flipped him self away from the struggle, took hold of a car and like a baseball bat, blasted the monster in the chest with it. The Beast was blasted backwards, 20 feet through the air and onto the street.

Albus didn't wait for it to recover. He jumped high into the air and then came speeding back down like a human torpedo, smashing into the Beast torso. He jumped back off and watched it cough and growl in it's fury.

Within seconds it was back on it's feet and charging at him. It swiped and slashed at him but Albus was the faster of the two. He jumped, ducked and sent blows back so quickly that the monster simply couldn't defend it's self.

He finally managed to smash it back onto the ground with a knee to the face. Albus jumped again and landed by the remains of the car he hit it with. He picked up the destroyed bonnet that now had a sharp metal edge and brought it down on the Beasts arm like a cleaver, cutting it off above the elbow.

The Beast screamed in pain and grabbed the bloody stump. Albus prepared to strike again when he noticed something that made him stop. The bone was starting grow out and extend and new flesh and muscle was beginning to twist it self forwards. Within seconds, the Beast had completely new arm.

Albus' jaw dropped. "Holy Shit!"

The Monster took full advantage of opening and hit Albus with a ground shaking uppercut. He was blasted through the air so hard that he actually smashed straight through several buildings before finally hitting the ground again.

His head was spinning and his body ached from being squeezed by his own shield. He looked up to see dozens of wizards running scared from around him. He had smashed straight through the portal and into the waiting room of St. Mungo's!

He felt the ground shake from monstrous foot steps. He moved quickly, grabbing hold of a floating steel gurney and employing it like another baseball bat.

The Beast tore straight through the hole he had made in the entrance and charged at him. Albus used the gurney to smack every inch of the monster that he could before it was bent and battered into nothing.

The Beast managed to land another uppercut, this one sending Albus flying straight through the roof of the waiting room and ending up on the fourth floor. The monster jumped and began to climb it's way through the holes.

Only 50 feet away from the building, several _POP's_ sounded the arrival or Aurora, Scorpius, Lincoln, Amelia, James, Hugo, Violet and Lynx.

"Jesus!" Amelia breathed, looking at the devastation all around.

"HEY!" Harry's voice yelled.

He, Hermione, Teddy and Draco ran over to the group just as the distant sound of an explosion rocked the street.

"Scorpius! Get out of here! Right now!" Draco ordered.

"Where's Albus?!" Aurora demanded.

At that moment, there was a massive crash and suddenly Albus was thrown from the fourth floor of the abandon department store, smashing into a car on the street below. He didn't have time to be dazed. He flipped himself out of the wreckage just as the Beast jumped through the air and impacted with what was left of the vehicle!

Albus sent a Gravity burst at the car and The Beast, sending them both rocketing down the road, impacting with truck carrying massive drill parts along the way.

He spotted Aurora.

"WHAT DID I SAY TO YOU?!" He roared.

"I'm not leaving you!" She screamed back.

"Harry! Get em out of here!"

"You need help!" Lincoln yelled.

"You can't hurt it! Nothing can hurt it! It's just heals from what ever I do!" Albus growled.

"So how do we stop it?!" Hermione asked frantically.

Albus looked around for some kind of relief. All he could spot was a heavy chain that had fallen off the destroyed truck. He looked straight up.

"I'm gonna take him on a ride to the top of the world! See how he likes space!"

There was a roar from the distance as the Beast pulled it's self out of the wreckage.

"NO! Albus! You can't go that high!" Aurora cried.

"First time for everything!" Albus yelled as he ran forward and grabbed the metal chain.

The Beast charged at him but Albus flipped over it's head and landed directly behind it. He swung the chain, like a lasso, around the Beasts neck and then blasted himself into the air taking the monster with him.

Aurora watched as he became smaller and smaller in the sky. What sounded like the dying hit of a gong sounded around the street and suddenly the abandon department store vanished and was replaced with a ruined Hospital. Wizards, Witches and Healers ran out of the hole that used to be the main entrance and scattered into the street as smoke poured from the hole in the fourth floor.

All around the street, frightened muggles looked on, completely stunned.

Thousands of feet above them, Albus continued to travel straight up towing the mutant wolf behind him. The pressure had already started to squeeze his shield and cold was flowing over him. Only the cold wasn't from the outside air. Albus could feel it, the Adrenaline was starting to fade and he still had Draught of Living Death inside his veins. He had to kill Jack quickly before he became so tired he couldn't even walk again.

He soared higher and higher as the Beast attempted to claw and trash at the chain around it's neck. Ice had began creeping it's away around the Beasts body and it was desperately gasping for air.

Albus was leaving the curve of the earth behind. This was higher than he had ever gone before. The pressure was so intense that he was actually being squeezed by his own shield. The Beast had stopped trashing.

He couldn't hold it. Albus let go of the chain and the frozen Beast started to plummet back to earth.

Albus, about to lose consciousness, dropped back and allowed himself to fall.

London suddenly started to get a lot bigger as he fell at 120 MPH. He slammed the breaks on just as he passed through the dense clouds and came to rest on the Victoria Embankment, looking out across the Thames River.

Albus fell to his knees, breathing hard. He could feel his body trying to fight the Draught.

A familiar smell crept up his nose. One of his own kind was close.

Aurora and the others, led by Lincoln ran over towards him. Aurora wrapped her arms around him. She was shaking.

"Are you alright?! Where is he?" She asked quickly.

"I don't know. He was a werecube the last time I saw him!" Albus smiled.

Aurora hugged him again. "We need to get the rest of that Draught out of you!"

"Sounds fun..." Albus stood.

Something made his head turn. He looked down the side of the river to see a huge clawed hand reach out of the water and grab the wall. The Beast was still alive.

"Ahhh! You're taking the piss!" Albus sighed.

The Monster pulled it self out of the Thames and shook the water from it's body. It sniffed the air and immediately picked up on Albus.

He summoned the strength that he had left. "Go now! Run!" Albus yelled at the others before charging down the street to intercept.

The two collided again, smashing each other with punches wherever they could. The Draught was taking it's toll on him. Albus was slowing down, his reaction times dropping.

He caught a blow on the left side of his body forcing him backwards then suddenly the Beasts claws came slashing through the air. Albus' face burst open with blood but before he even had time to scream, he was slammed in the chest by a fist, sending him flying backwards, through the wall of a building.

The bricks around the hole buckled under the weight and the entire structure collapsed on top of him.

"NO!" Aurora screamed.

Lincoln and Amelia bolted forwards. Amelia jumped and spin kicked the Beast around the face so hard that one of it's teeth flew out of it's mouth and stuck in a lamp post like dart. She flipped and dodged it's attack as Lincoln grabbed hold of it's leg and turned the monster Ethereal.

The gassy outline of the Beast thrashed and fought but simply couldn't touch anything. It's legs began to sink into the street.

"Lincoln! Lincoln let go!" Amelia cried. Her voice mimicked her face. She was scared. "LINCOLN, LET GO!"

Suddenly the Beast rematerialized and howled out in pain. It's legs had literally disappeared just below the knee. Lincoln, who had also rematerialized, fell to the ground, exhausted.

That was his secret weakness. He couldn't stay out of Phase for too long or he risked not being able to come back at all! Hugo gulped realizing that this was what he was worried about before they broke into the facility in Manchester.

The Beast squirmed around on the ground as it's legs began to grow back.

Aurora started to run towards the rubble of the building when she was suddenly stopped by Rose.

"No! Aurora, I need your help!"

"I have to help Albus!"

The pile of broken bricks started to move.

"Look! He's okay! Come with me, I need your help!" Rose begged.

"Why?!"

"Because I can't Apparate!" Rose tugged at her arm. Aurora looked back at the collapsed building, watching the pile of bricks topple and fall. Albus was digging himself out. "Please Aurora!"

It took all the will power she had to simply trust that Albus was okay. She and Aurora started running towards the river.

"Hey! What are we suppose to do?!" Scorpius barked.

"Keep him busy!"

"What do you mean keep him busy?! What do you expect us to do, sing to him?!" Hugo blurted.

"Yes! Sing, do a dance, tell it a joke, just keep it busy!" Rose growled.

Aurora and Rose disappeared with a _CRACK._

"Wonderful! I forgot my Banjo! Did you bring yours?!" Hugo scowled to Scorpius.

The Beast roared, it's legs were almost fully healed. Amelia grabbed Lincoln and got him to his feet, he was still weak but holding on.

Lynx took a deep breath, turned to Violet and kissed her as if she were saying goodbye. She broke off and started running straight at the Beast.

"NO! LYNX!" Violet screamed.

Lynx jumped and in mid-air, transformed into a beautiful giant White Tiger. She leapt again, this time catching the Beast's face with her claws. It roared with anger, picked it self up onto it's newly regrown feet and gave chance.

Lynx bolted on all fours, running down the side of the Thames with the Monster in hot pursuit.

She cut left down a narrow alleyway leading back towards the city. The Beast followed her, smashing it's way through the walls. The end of the Alleyway was blocked by a large brick wall.

Lynx jumped, praying that she could make it over.

She fell short, her claws missing the top by only an inch. She was trapped.

The Beast came smashing up behind her, snarling it's rage. The White Tiger hissed as the Wolf approached. It opened it mouth letting drool fall from it's tongue and exposing it's jagged teeth.

The Wall behind Lynx exploded. The Beast was hit in the chest by what seemed like a tank shell but was in fact, the airborne Colossus. He blasted the Monster back onto the Embankment and landed a few feet away from it.

Half his head was completely scarlet red. He had blood pouring from the three lacerations on the left side of his face. "Where you going Fido? We're not done yet!" He growled. The Draught was threatening to shut him down for good but he was fighting it as much as he could.

The Beast stood, ready for more!

It lunged for him but Albus managed to side step it and jump on it's back. He clamped his hands around it skull, squeezing with everything he had. The Beast roared and went mad, trashing and jolting all over the place, trying to shake him off.

He felt it's skull about to give way, but every time he weakened it with more pressure, the bones healed and restrengthened. He couldn't do it.

Finally, the Beast rolled forward, dislodging Albus from it's back. It threw him off and he crashed into the ground 20 feet away.

_POP!_

Rose and Aurora, reappeared on the same spot that they has Disappeared from but with one big difference. They were levitating his_ AIM-120 AMRAM_ Missile that he had stolen from an _F-22 Raptor_ fighter jet!

"Albus!" Aurora yelled grabbing his attention.

The Beast charged. Aurora flung the Missile towards Albus who caught it by it's nose and for the third time, gave it an almighty swing like a baseball bat. This time he extended his shield around the Missile and used it to uppercut The Beast so hard that it actually took off!

There was a roar but not from the monster. The jolt had caused the Missile to re-activate! The engine powered up and Albus took aim at the Beast that had begun falling back to earth.

He shot off, with the Missile still in his arms and flew directly for it.

"NO! LET GO!" Aurora cried.

But he didn't. He guided the Missile straight into the Beast.

The explosion lit up the entire London skyline! Pieces of fiery debris rained everywhere, like fireworks. The sound echoed through the air for miles.

Suddenly there was a massive crash as something large smashed onto the roof of a building just down the Embankment.

Lynx, still in White Tiger form ran back over to the group and then reverted back to her human self. She was shaken and out of breath but alive. Violet immediately clutched hold over her.

"What the hell was that?!" Lynx asked.

Aurora had already taken off towards the building with the now smoking roof.

The ran past the destroyed alleyway and cut up the next street. Just as they neared the entrance to the large and quite stylish office block, they were stopped by somebody's voice.

"ROSE! HUGO!" Hermione cried. She ran towards her children with Harry, Teddy, Draco and several others behind them.

Aurora didn't stop. She pulled out her wand and unlocked the large glass double doors.

"Aurora wait!" Harry yelled. He ran up ahead of her. "Stay behind me, okay!"

They all bolted towards the fire stairs and traveled as quickly as they could towards the top floor. Aurora unlocked a padlock, blocking the roof exit from being opened and charged through.

The roof looked like a plane had crashed onto it! There were flaming pieces of metal everywhere and the stone it's self was broken and destroyed in several places. The large fans that provided air conditioning for the building had been torn apart and lay strewn across the floor.

"ALBUS!" Aurora screamed running over to a barely moving body just beside some of the burning rubble.

His clothes were black and burned away in places but he didn't seem to be too badly damaged by the explosion. She carefully helped him up.

"Are you alright?!" She had tears forming in her eyes.

"Peachy..." He mumbled barely able to stand.

"Albus..." Harry said. His eyes were begging him and his voice was filled with remorse. "Albus...I..."

Before he could finish, Albus had lunged at him. Harry was shoved out of the way as the Beast suddenly burst out of the burning rubble!

Albus tackled him and tied to lock it's arms together. It was missing chunks of flesh from all over it's body. It's hair had been burnt away in several places and one of it's legs had been blown completely off at the hip. But it was still blood thirsty and powered by unimaginable fury.

It's leg started to grow back and it managed to throw Albus Against the floor, holding his arms down with it's own while leaning in with it's broken but no less sharp teeth.

Aurora tried to run to his aid but was held back by several people including Teddy and James.

"ALBUS!" She cried, tears free falling from her eyes.

Albus caught a glimpse of her. He knew in his heart, that once Daggra finished killing him, he would slaughter everyone he cared about. One kill was never going to be enough for him. He would need more and his revenge would never be satisfied.

The Door of Light burned inside his head. That thought alone empowered Albus with more strength than he had ever felt before. Every single terrified spectator went bug eyed as Albus actually started to power his way out of the Beasts hold.

Albus was somehow managing to match it's strength! He got to one knee and continued to push against it.

He suddenly ducked forwards, head butting the Beast in the chest, forcing it back. It let go of Albus' right arm and he didn't waste the opening. He grabbed hold of it's massive lower jaw and pulled down, almost breaking it off completely!

"BITE THIS!"

Albus threw a punch into it's mouth and actually rammed his hand down until it touched the back of it's throat. As soon as it did, he let off a massive Gravity burst from his fist!

The Monsters head exploded in a shower of blood and bone.

The headless beast dropped to the ground. It's destroyed leg had stopped regenerating.

"Bad dog..."

Albus fell to his knees, exhausted but victorious. A second later, Aurora was at his side, hugging him and crying. She saw the massive claw marks on his face and cried harder. She had been scared for him, now he had done the same for her. They didn't have time to enjoy in it.

The sound of dozens of people rushing up the stairs alerted everyone. The muggles were on their way.

"Aurora...I can't stay...," Albus breathed. "I love you...I'll find you, I promise..."

"Go..." She whispered back.

He kissed her before getting to his feet and running to the edge of the building. He turned to look at his father. Harry nodded, willing him to go with a look of pride on his face.

Just as the armed muggles burst through the door and rushed the roof, Albus blasted off into the sky.

For a second, nobody said anything. The muggles stared at the headless beast then looked at Harry and the others...all holding wands. The Capitan of their forces stepped forward.

"I guess you want to talk about this..." Harry said showing him his wand.


	32. My Colossus

==== MY COLOSSUS ====

==== INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF WIZARDS – PARIS – FRANCE ====

==== JANUARY 29TH – 2022 A.D. ====

Conrad Vanhorton paced the sides of the conference room with a cup of extra strong coffee in his hand. An American that traveled a lot, he was know to most political leaders as _Mr. Fixit._ He was called in when ever the shit really hit the fan and although he wasn't technically a government employee, he had certainly served his time with them. In his mid 40's he was at the top of his game. He was the one that was brought in by Harry after rumors started to fly about his son killing a man on the Hogwarts Express.

He was also the man that was dealing with the rumors about Harry's own infidelity, even though, Harry had resolutely refused to try and cover up his actions. Mr. Fixit, nevertheless got the go ahead to start spin coverage of those rumors and the public brought it instantly. They could never believe that their Saviour, their golden boy would ever be capable of something like that.

It seemed to hurt Harry even more that people were refusing to blame him. He wanted to be blamed. He wanted to have his name dragged through the mud. He knew he deserved it and yet, it simply wouldn't happen. He would always be their hero.

It was one of the reasons that Hermione shuffled so much in her seat. Conrad was also in charge of cleaning her image and again, he was doing a very good job. But, he still had all the dirt on her. In fact he had dirt on everyone of the 12 leaders of the Magical world that were sitting right at that table.

Of course, his biggest priority now, the one that went above and beyond all others, was what to do about the muggles.

"Okay, just so I know we are on the same page here," Conrad said quickly and professionally. "I want to make sure my intelligence is accurate so, please don't interrupt me with corrections until I'm finished...," He clear his throat and looked at a small stack of parchments on the table in front of his seat.

"So...we've got an entire sub-species of mankind that has been around for a few thousand years. They're highly evolved, animalistic and have abilities that even wizards don't. They go through a metamorphosis somewhere around their 14th birthdays, aging about 5 years in as many days, they go through heat in the same way that dog does and during that time, they feel the need to mate more than sex addict surrounded by Nymphomaniacs. And the only reason we haven't heard about them until now is because there is some kind of secret clandestine organization that has dedicated their lives to exterminating these...Anomalies?"

He wasn't looking for an answer. He was simply trying to come to terms with the information, looking for a way to twist it so it sounded better.

"Albus Severus Potter AKA The Colossus, is one of these Anomalies with the ability to...," He checked his notes. "manipulate and control gravity...cool..., anyway, probably due to the enormity of his father, one Harry James Potter's Legacy, Albus decided, with his new found power, that he is going to save the world...," Conrad took a sip of his coffee. "Using the persona of a superhero, he then takes an 11 month vacation from the wizarding world, during which time, he becomes world renowned and revered by the muggles. Now, during this vacation, he is ambushed and attacked in Venice, Italy by these people...err...," He checked his notes again. "The Cleric...,"

Conrad looked a little confused by the name.

"Somewhere during the melee, his girlfriend...," He quickly looked through a personnel file. The moment he saw a recent picture of Aurora he nodded his approval at her looks. "his extremely hot girlfriend, gets half her face blasted off by these people and ends up in St. Mungo's. Albus goes rip-shit-riot on anyone that had even the slightest bit to do with that and now has an unconfirmed body count of...24. After a scuffle at Hogwarts, the boy wonder manages to take the Colossus down and puts him in a magically induced coma, just as one of these Cleric's decided to overdose on crazy-juice and turn himself into some kind of Uberwerewolf. Uberwolf starts tearing the shit out of the Ministry looking for Al and once he realized that he isn't even there, he bust out and decides to take his aggression out on swinging London. Meanwhile, Albus is broken out of his little prison, which by the way, your government neglected to mention even existed! by...,"

He checked his notes again. "an unidentified group of assailants. Isn't odd that all 6 of guards that were attacked in that place couldn't actually identify a single one of their attacks?" He looked a Hermione with an accusing smile. "Anyway...these guys wake Albus up, bing, bam, boom, clash of the titans right in the middle of London! Albus eventually manages to take this ugly bastard down and then disappears...again! Now, you don't know where he, the girlfriend or any of his known associates are...,"

Conrad often took pleasure is making powerful people realize just how stupid they had been.

"And here is the big fat silver lining to this whole surreal expansive cluster fuck...during the rumble in the urban jungle, the muggles managed to obtain irrefutable proof, that the wizarding world actually exists!" He actually chuckled. "Now...did I miss anything? Did Martians land and start taking over the world while I was in the crapper? Because I gotta tell you folks...we are standing in one giant puddle of shit and we're all wearing 500 Galleon shoes!"

No one disagreed.

"Okay, I can only help you guys out if your willing to help yourselves. So, suggestions. How do we deal with?" Conrad asked.

Suddenly it seemed almost like they were back in school. All of them too shy or embarrassed to actually speak up. But that had never been Hermione's problem so she raised her hand.

"Minister?"

"Tell them the truth," She said simply.

"The Truth?"

"We can't go back into hiding and if we try, it'll just make things worse. It's time to come clean," There was an air of sadness in her voice.

"I agree," The French Minister said. "we must be civilized and work for continued peace with the muggles,"

"Peace?!" Conrad laughed. "There's never been peace between us! Before the Wizarding World went into hiding, their favorite pass time was burning us at the stake! Jews, Blacks, Native Americans, Muslims...you know what they all have in common? They've all been attacked, hated and abused because they're different. We are about to find ourselves on that list! You may think that the world is a more civilized place now, but the truth is, humans run into something they don't understand and they get scared. Just like you guys did when The Colossus showed up. Now you want to admit to them that we've been lying to them for over 300 years!"

"We don't have a choice!" Hermione said sternly. "we don't mean the any harm and the only way we are going to get that point across is by talking to them. By being honest!"

"Honest about Magic? I can't wait to see the blow back you get from the religious community," Conrad laughed. "but...okay. You think the best way to deal with this is to bend over your own desk with your pants around your ankles, so be it. I'll do my best to try and smooth this transition but I know for a fact that things will get very ugly!"

==== CLERIC'S TEMPLE – LOCATION UNKNOWN – FEBRUARY 2nd – 2022 A.D. ====

Mathis still had his arm bandaged from his gun shot wound. He was standing next to Marshall in the holding cells.

"I just want to go on record one more time and say that this is a very bad idea!" Mathis stated.

"Well, we haven't exactly had very many good idea's lately," Marshall sighed. "we're running out of options," They were both staring at the comatose Anomaly that was still lying on the bed in the cell in front of them. "The Machine can't be repaired, 85% of our people are dead and worst of all the secret is out so if you have a better idea, then I'm all ears,"

"You know I don't. Doesn't make this any less risky."

"It wasn't easy getting Daggra's body down here you know. I would have hoped you'd be a little more optimistic,"

"It's not finished!" Mathis growled.

"You said you eliminated the mutation without loosing the benefits," Marshall reminded him.

"In one trail! And rats are a little different to humans!"

"Combine that serum with an Anomalies immune system, instant super soldier," Marshall mused.

"It's not ready yet!"

"We are running out of time Mathis!"

There was a scuffle from the doorway. Lisa and another Cleric dragged a young Chinese man into the holding cells. It was Lao.

"Mr. Lao, good of you to join us," Marshall smiled.

"What do you want?!" He asked quickly. He was scared.

"We're in need of your talents. I understand that Anomalies can handle a much heavier implant than humans?"

"Their synaptic pathways are stronger," Mathis added.

"Yeah...so?" Lao breathed.

"I have your next subject right here," Marshall smiled pointing towards the Anomaly.

Leo peered around the side and looked through the glass.

==== KINGS CROSS STATION – LONDON – UK – FEBRUARY 10TH – 2022 A.D. ====

Scorpius, Draco and Astoria pushed their way through the barrier onto Platform 9 ¼. Anyone would think that it was the first day of a new term. The platform had never been so packed. Then again, it was to be expect. Given recent events, a lot of people believed that the safest place for their children was now Hogwarts. Even students that had already graduated and others that would normally attend foreign schools were starting to board the Express.

Tannis and the other teaching staff had volunteered to enlarge the dorms and add new accommodation where ever they could to house the new arrivals. Hogwarts had always been a place of sanctuary and with the Wizarding World no longer hidden, everyone was looking for ways to feel safe.

A lot of students and even parents stared shamelessly at Scorpius the moment they spotted him. Despite the spin coverage, the rumors were still flying around that Scorpius might be in contact with the Colossus. But their stares suddenly became eye-popping shock when they caught a glimpse of who was walking over to them.

"Hey, how was the ride in?" Amelia asked. She stood out like a sore thumb. Her pale white skin and tough demeanor attracted a lot of attention.

"Long! I can't believe how much security has been put up!" Astoria said.

"Getting ready for the 20th," Amelia said simply. "you should see Diagon Alley. Takes an hour just to get in there. Come on, everyone's this way,"

Amelia led them through the crowd with ease. Everyone that saw her coming seemed to instantly get out of her way.

Just down the platform, Scorpius spotted Rose. They hugged and kissed each other, not caring about anyone that could be watching. Draco gave an involuntary twitch while Astoria seemed to think it was very cute. Just behind her, Hugo, James, Lily, DJ and Fred were chatting away.

"Can't believe you didn't call us!" DJ huffed.

"Yeah, we wouldn't have minded getting in on some of that action!" Fred agreed.

"Trust me, you would have minded! That thing was fucking scary!" Hugo blurted.

Fred leaned into James and whispered. "Is that the Vampire?"

James nodded while Fred looked her up and down. "She's sexy!"

"I know," Amelia said simply causing Fred to turn away and go bright red.

"Vampires...good hearing," James laughed.

"Hey! I saw her first!" Hugo whined.

"I think your a little young for her Hugo!" Lily giggled.

"Hey Thundercat," Amelia smiled as Lynx and Violet walked over. Amelia licked her lips as she studied Violet. She had dyed her hair dirty blond, a lot like Aurora had when they stormed the Ministry.

"Hey Lynx, how was registration?" James grinned.

Her eyes narrowed. "Very funny! Only took 4 hours!"

"Would you rather get fined or arrested for not declaring yourself as an Animagus?"

"I preferred it when only a few people knew, now I've got to get this thing," She held out a small laminated card. "renewed every year!" The card read: _Lynx Cabot – Registered Animagus – 362 – Form: White Tiger._

"You'll probably have the muggles asking you to do tricks for them!" DJ Laughed.

"I hear there's already a big group of them camping a few miles from the Castle. They wanna be there when the wards come down." Rose added.

"The Media event of the century," James sighed. "that's what they're calling it. They say it'll be bigger news that 9/11,"

"Can't say I'm surprised. The discovery of an entire magical community," Astoria agreed.

"Yeah well, doesn't mean we should drop our guard around them. I don't want any of you running around to show off your magic tricks!" Draco ordered.

"We'll behave," Scorpius smiled.

"Oh I know you will," Amelia said quickly. "You know how much I hate babysitting so if any of you misbehaved, I won't shout at you, I'll just kick your ass!"

They laughed nervously simply because they knew she wasn't lying.

"You heard from Albus?" Draco asked.

"He was in India last time we heard from him. That was about a week ago," She said.

"What about Aurora?" Lynx asked.

Amelia sighed. She knew both Lynx and Violet missed their friend. "She got to keep a low profile. She is coming back but I wouldn't expect her any time soon,"

They looked saddened by her absence. It was odd to think that not too long ago, none of these people would be caught dead even talking to her, now they would be over the moon if she was here with them.

"Alright, come on you lot. Get on board," Astoria said.

Hugo sighed. "Everyone's gonna act weird around us!"

"That's because they know that your cousin is the most powerful person in the world," Amelia chimed.

Draco put his arm around his son. "You be safe okay? No running off to play the hero again," He smiled. "we don't do that sort of stuff, we're Malfoy's."

"Really?" Save any muggle-borns lately?" Scorpius laughed.

"You keep that to your self! I've got a reputation to uphold!" Draco laughed before ushering his son on board.

"Does that drinks trolley serve Blood? Because I'm feeling a little thirsty," Amelia grinned causing all of them go almost as pale as she was.

Most of the journey was taken up by James whining about still having to take his NEWT's even though he had missed a lot of classes because he'd been helping the Colossus save the world. Hugo re-enacted the fight between Albus and Daggra for Fred and DJ while Amelia patrolled the corridors of the train. Every now and then, a few terrified people would rush past their compartment.

Amelia was not the most gentle touch.

Scorpius and Rose were huddled together by the window. They simply stared at the trees wisping by while he stroked her hair. Everyone seemed to be finding it difficult to actually come to terms with how much the world had just changed. Most people seemed determined to ignore it. They wanted to go on with their lives like nothing had even happened.

But the truth was that they couldn't ever go back. There would never be another International Secrecy Act. It had been replaced by U.N. Policies and human rights acts. The Wizarding world was now seen in the same light as The Vatican. A city within a city or more accurately, A culture within a culture. But despite all the attempts to make it a peaceful transition, things were already starting to get bad.

Protests, religious unrest, slandering and fear mongering were already starting to stir up all over the world. Eventually the hate crimes would begin. Things were going to spiral out of control very quickly and it would be up to only a few people to make sure that it didn't come to all out war.

But even that didn't seem to be the darkest cloud on the horizon. The Prophecy kept repeating it's self in Scorpius's head. The Twins of Destiny. Athena Gorski. The Reign of Darkness. Demons walking the Earth. He wondered if this, the wizarding world being discovered, was somehow all part of destiny's plan. He knew one thing for certain. The only way they would be able to stop whatever was coming, was together.

The arrival at the Castle felt very odd. All the other Hogwarts students were already there. In fact, Scorpius and the others were the only actual students on the train. Everyone else had simply come seeking shelter. Scorpius did notice that the giant crater that Albus had created was no longer there and any other damage had been repaired.

He kept expecting to be ushered into the great hall for the feast and the sorting ceremony, but they weren't. They simply went off to their house dorms that no longer felt as warm and comforting as they once did.

==== AURORA'S HOME – VENICE – ITALY – FEBRUARY 16TH – 2022 A.D. ====

Aurora was gazing desperately into Albus's eyes. They were lying naked in each others arms and had been for the past hour. Neither of them wanted to leave this moment.

"Please don't do this," She whispered.

"I have to," He sighed.

"Why does it feel like the world is trying to keep us apart?" She asked softly.

"Let it try," He kissed her.

"I want to come with you."

"There are things I have to do alone. Besides, I need you to go back to Hogwarts and look after the others."

"Amelia can protect them."

"It's not just protection. I need you to get them ready. I need you to teach them how to look after themselves," Albus held her tighter.

Aurora looked away. "How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know," He pushed his head to hers, trying to get her to look up. "Hey, look at me...," She did. "I'm not going to say goodbye...because I'm coming back, I promise."

"I love you so much," She locked her arms around him, afraid to let go.

"I love you."

==== HOGWARTS – SCOTLAND – UK – FEBRUARY 20TH – 2022 A.D. ====

Harry trudged his way up the deserted grounds. Everyone had been ushered back into the Castle in preparation for the big show. The halls were empty but there was a lot of noise coming from the Great Hall. It seemed that all of the students and guests had been moved in there.

He continued up the stairs towards the Headmasters office. The Gargoyles moved aside as soon as he got close and he followed the stairs into the office.

"Everything ready?" Harry asked but received no answer. Tannis wasn't there. Only the whizzing and whirling instruments that never seemed to take a day.

"Now I am become Death, The Destroyer of Worlds,"

Harry spun around to see Aurora staring out of the window. He was more than a little bit surprised to see her.

"Robert Oppenheimer said that after the Trinity Test," She continued without looking at him. "do you know what the Trinity test was, Harry?"

"No,"

"It was the first time a nuclear weapon was detonated," She moved away from the window and looked at him. "he was quoting the Hindu bible but the point gets across nevertheless. The most destructive weapon in the world was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Over 250,000 lives ended instantly. But, it brought an end to the most horrific war in living history. Would you call that the Greater Good?"

She seemed so professional and emotionless that it was almost unreal.

"Some people would," Harry said quietly.

"But not you?"

"No."

"That's why you don't understand what Albus is doing," She said simply.

"How can I?!" Harry simply couldn't make the connection between his son and an atomic bomb.

"Trust him. I thought you would have realized by now just how smart he is."

Harry looked confused.

Finally showing some emotion, Aurora laughed. "It was always part of his plan to become the Villain or at least for Albus Potter to become the Villain. It was the only way he could make sure that you continued to be the Hero of the wizarding world while Colossus continued to be the Hero of the muggles. There was simply no way of stopping the Cleric's without resorting to brutal tactic's. But he couldn't have his crimes falling onto you, me or anyone else. That's why he made it so plainly obvious that he was the one doing it."

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing but at the same time, it made so much sense.

"He sacrificed his life as Albus Potter to protect all of us. To protect your image and the hope that you inspire to the wizarding world...because he was right. Good simply isn't strong enough anymore, but that doesn't mean that it's given up. It simply has to evolve. He can be the enemy in front of your face because behind the scenes, he is the Saviour and this world needs him now more than ever before."

Harry looked away, realizing that his son had actually chosen to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"We need you to Harry," She smiled. "we need all the heroes we can get to prepare for what's coming."

Harry looked up. "What's coming?"

"Something this world has never seen before," She stared into his eyes. They were exactly the same as Albus's. "something it's not ready for. War is coming."

Harry's face dropped.

"He is going to do everything in his power to stop it but he can't so it alone. He needs help, Harry."

"What can do?" He asked.

"Disown him. Raise the bounty on his head. Publicly state the he is no match for the-Boy-Who-Lived."

"What?!"

"The Wizarding world is scared, Harry. They need to be reminded that you are here to protect them. You have to give them hope even if it means hunting your own son to do it!" She demanded. "Show them that you're not afraid of the Colossus or the Muggles and they will find that same strength inside them selves! He needs you to be a Hero again and unfortunately to do that, you need a Villain to fight. He is that Villain!"

"I can't disown my son! No matter what he's done...I can't...I love him!"

"He still loves you, Harry," She said softly. "I'm not asking you to do this...he is. He is asking for your help."

Harry had tears forming in his eyes. He didn't know if he had the strength to see this through. "He shouldn't have to bare this...."

"No, he shouldn't. But he will, because he can take it. Because strong enough. Because he's the Colossus." Her voice echoed with pride.

Harry started to walk towards the door. He stopped but didn't turn around. "If you see him...you tell him...tell him I'm here for him."

==== GRANADA – SPAIN – FEBRUARY 20TH – 2022 A.D. ====

Mathis was sitting at a small table inside a rustic bar. Next to him was the Anomaly that they had kept imprisoned for god knows how long. Only he didn't seem the slightest bit upset about that fact. Oddly enough, he seemed quite pleased to be there.

Mathis was making his pitch to the man sitting in front of them.

"You have to understand that it isn't simply your life that is effected by this but everyones," He said quickly. "we know exactly how much he's hurt you. We know he practically destroyed everything you care about and if Revenge is all you want then we can guarantee that. But you also have a chance to truly make a difference in this world."

Mathis waited for the man to speak, but he didn't.

"Of course you know that we've suffered some pretty heavy looses recently, but I can assure you that we still have some very powerful resources at our disposal," He smiled and turned to the man next to him. "This is Mr. Vanguard," Mathis nodded.

Vanguard held up his right hand which suddenly became completely engulfed in flames. He snapped his first closed and the fire disappeared instantly.

"As you can see, we aren't out of the game just yet. But we need to know everything we can about him. You can get us that information. You can get close to him where no one else can. So...will you help us?"

Ron Weasley looked Mathis straight in the eye. "I'm in"

==== LONDON – UK – FEBRUARY 20TH – 2020 A.D. ====

Albus surveyed the enormous city from the very top of Canary Wharf. In the streets below him thousands of people had gathered around any TV that they could to watch the unveiling of the Wizarding World. There would be a world wide gasp as soon as the Wards dropped and showed everything they had been hiding all these long years.

Then would come the hard part; Learning to live with it.

Albus didn't have time to police the people at the moment. His revenge was complete and now he had a new mission. He had to find the one person that may well decide the future of the entire world.

And with that he dropped off the building, free falling for a moment before blasting his way through the streets, letting everyone know that the Colossus was still around and still fighting for them.

He listened to them point and cheer for a moment before rocketing towards the Horizon. This was the moment he knew had been coming for a long time now. The moment he had been waiting for.

The moment when Evolution gives way to Destiny.

==== HOGWARTS – SCOTLAND – UK – FEBRUARY 20TH – 2022 A.D. ====

Violet had used the excuse that she need to get on with her prefect duties and check the castle in order to escape the Great Hall. Lynx had simply asked to go to the toilet. The obvious truth was that they didn't get many moments to be alone in a hugely crowed school and with the Wards about to drop any minute, they wanted to experience it together.

They wanted to be able to say that they were together when the world changed.

They quickly rushed through the empty corridors heading for the Ravenclaw dorms.

At first they both thought that they had imagined it. But then they looked closer and saw that the woman at the end of the corridor, staring silently out of the window, was indeed Aurora.

"Aurora!" They rushed towards her and hugged her at the same time.

"I can't believe your here!" Lynx said excitedly before noticing the look on her face. She was pale white and looked scared. "What's wrong?"

Aurora looked her in the eye. "I'm Pregnant."

==== TO BE CONTINUED ====


End file.
